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ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  1 6th  President  of  the  United  States. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN'S 

STORIES     AND     SPEECHES, 


Including    "Early  Life  Stories;"  "Professional 
Life  Stories;"  "White  House  Incidents;" 
' '  War  Rem  i  n  i  scences  ,  " 
Etc.,   Etc. 
— o — 
Also    His    Speeches,    Chronologically    Arranged, 
from  Pappsville,   III.,    1832,  to  His  last  Speech 
in  Washington,  April  ii,    1865.     Including 
His  Inaugurals,  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation, Gettysburg  Address, 
Etc.,   Etc.,   Etc. 


FULLY  ILLUSTRATED. 


ED I TED     BY 

J.    B.   McClure,     A.    M. 


-:o:- 


Editor    of    "Mistakes   of    Ingersoll;"    "Life   of 

Gen.   Garfield;"   "  Edison  and  his  Inventions;  " 

"Moody's  Anecdotes;"   "Sketches  of  Gen. 

Grant;"  Evils  of  the  Cities;" 

"Poetic  Pearls;"  Etc. 


CHICAGO. 

Rhodes  &   McClure  Publishing   Company. 

1895. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1894,  by 

Rhodes  &  McClure  Publishing  Company, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


All  Rights  reserved. 


ci 


In  his    speeches— and  we  may  add— his    stories,    the 
great  Lincoln   "still  lives,"  with  an  influence  for    good 

among  men. 

Whatever  may  attach  to  his  mere  biography,  that 
reveals  a  life  of  struggle  and  disadvantage  in  early 
years— unparalleled  in  fact  in  this  respect— the  truth 
is  the  man  Lincoln  is  not  in  the  "early  cabin  home," 
but  in  "words  that  never  die  "—in  the  compiled  ut- 
terances of  this  volume,  that  reveal  and  perpetuate 
the  soul  life  of  him  who  spoke  so  often,  so  fully 
and  truly,  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  hap- 
piness, and  of  a  government  "that  is  of  the  peo- 
ple,   by   the    people,    and    for  the  people." 

In  this  form  these  stories  and  speeches,  whose 
radiance  lightens  all  pathways,  are  dedicated  to  the 
world,  in  the  firm  faith  that  in  the  fulness  of  time,  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth  shall  make  all   people  free. 

J.   B.McCLURE. 

Chicago,  June  i,  r894. 


EARLY  LIFE  STORIES 

An   Honest    Boy;  Young    Lincoln    "Pulls    Fodder" 

Two  Days  for  a  Damaged   Book 1 8 

An  Incident  of  Lincoln's  Early  Hardships  and  Nar- 
row Escape  from  Death 21 

A  Pig  Story;  Lincoln's  Kindness  to  the  Brute  Crea- 
tion    32 

A  Hard  Tussle  with  Seven  Negroes;  Life  on  a  Mis- 
sissippi Flat-boat 33 

A  Remarkable  Story;  "Honest  Abe"  as  Postmaster.  40 
A  Humoros  Speech;    Lincoln  in   the    Black  Hawk 

War 46 

A  Joke  on  Lincoln's  Big  Feet 50 

Baby  Footprints 73 

"Clarey's  Grove  Boys";  A  Wrestling  Match 57 

Elected  to  the  Legislature 47 

Gen.  Linder's  Early  Recollections;  Amusing  Stories.  55 

How  Lincoln  Earned  his  First  Dollar 17 

How  Lincoln  Helped  to    Build    a  Boat:    and    How 

he  Loaded  the  Live  Stock 28 

How  Lincoln  Resented  an  Insult 29 

[6] 


CONTENTS.  7 

How  Lincoln  Piloted  a  Flat-boat  Over  a  Mill  Dam.  42 

How  Lincoln  Became  a  Captain 45 

How  Lincoln  Treated   His    Early    Friend,     Dennis 

Hanks,  in  Washington 62 

Incidents  Illustrating  Lincoln's  Honesty 27 

Judge  Ewing's  Story 63 

Judge  Moses'  Early  Recollections  of  Lincoln 64 

Little  Lincoln  Firing    at    Big  Game    Through   the 

Cracks  of  His  Cabin   Home 20 

Lincoln  and  his  Gentle  Annie;  A  Touching  Inci- 
dent    24 

Lincoln  Splits  Several  Hundred  Rails  for  a  Pair  of 
Pants;  How  he  Looked,  as  Described  by  a  Com- 
panion   35 

Lincoln's  Story  of    a  Girl  in  New  Salem 35 

Lincoln's  Mechanical  Ingenuity .  . .  .  > 39 

Lincoln's  Marriage;  Interesting  Letters 51 

Lincoln's  Mother;  How  He  Loved  Her 54 

Mrs.  Brown's  Story  of   Young  Abe;    How    a    Man 

Slept  with  a  President  of  the  United  States 36 

Reminiscences;  The  Turning  Point m 59 

Splitting  Rails  and  Studying  Mathemetics;  Simmons, 

Lincoln  &  Company 42 

Senator  Cullom's  Interesting  Reminiscences  of  Lin- 
coln   66 

•  'The  Long   Nine. " , 49 

What  Some    Men    Say  About    Lincoln;    His    First 

Meeting  with  Richard  Yates 30 

When  and  Where  Lincoln    Obtained    the    Name  of 

"Honest  Abe." 37 

Young  Lincoln's  Kindness    of    Heart*    He    Carries 

Home  and  Nurses  a   Drunkard 21 


8  CONTENTS. 

Young  Lincoln  and  his  Books;    Their    Influence    on 

his  Mind 22 

PROFESSIONAL  LIFE  STORIES. 

A  Remarkable  Law  Suit  About  a  Colt 75 

A  Famous  Story 78 

A  letter  to  His  Beloved  Stepmother 82 

An  Amusing  Story    Concerning  Thompson    Camp- 
bell   85 

An  Incident  Related  by  one  of  Lincoln's  Clients. ...  8y 

Attention  Shown  to  Relatives 91 

A  Good  Temperance  Man 94 

A  Revolutionary  Pensioner  Defended  by  Lincoln.  . .  101 

Gen.  Linder's  Account  of  the  Lincoln-Shields  Duel.  95 

Honest  Abe  and  His  Lady  Client 89^ 

How  Lincoln  Kept  His  Business  Accounts 91 

How  Lincoln  Always  Turned  a  Stury  to  His  Advan- 
tage   103 

Hon.  Newton  Bateman's  Thrilling  Story  of  Mr;  Lin- 
coln; The    Great   Man    Lookiag   to  See  How  the 

Springfield  Preachers  Voted 106 

How  Lincoln  and  Judge  B.  Swapped  Horses 75 

Lincoln's  Story  of  a  young  Lawyer    as  he  Told  it  to 

Gen.  Garfield 79 

Lincoln  and  His  Stepmother 80 

Lincoln's  Story   of  Joe    Wilson    and  his   "Spotted 

Animals." 86 

Lincoln  Defends  Col.   Baker 88 

Lincoln  in  Court 92 

Lincoln  Defends  the  Son  of  an  Old  Friend  Indicted 

for  Murder 97 

Lincoln's  Pungent  Retort 100 


CONTENTS.  9 

Lincoln  Threatens  a  Twenty  Years'  Agitation  in  Illi- 
nois   i  o  I 

Lincoln's  Visit  to  Kansas in 

Lincoln  and  the  Little  Chicago  Girls 114 

Lincoln's  Simplicity 1 18 

One  of  Lincoln's  '  'Hardest  Hits. " 93 

Some  of  Lincoln's   "Cases"    and    how    He    Treated 

Them 99 

The  Lincoln-Shields    Duel 83 

The  Judge  and  the  Drunken  Coachman 88 

Why  Mr.  Lincoln  Let  His  Whiskers  Grow 115 

WHITE  HOUSE  INCIDENTS. 

A  Story  Which  Lincoln  Told  the  Preachers 122 

An  Irish  Soldier  Who  Wanted    Something  Stronger 

than  Water 127 

A  Story  About  Jack  Chase 128 

A  '  'Pretty  Tolerable  Respectable  Sort  of   a   Clergy- 
man"  .t.  . .    132 

An  Apt  Illustration 135 

A  Touching  Incident 144 

A  Praying  President 161 

'  'Browsed  Around" 136 

Bishop  Turner's  Remiscences. 164 

Common  Sense 131 

Cutting  Red  Tape 1  36 

Comments  of   Mr.    Lincoln    on    the    Emancipation 

Proclamation 148 

Ejecting  a  Cashiered  Officer  from  the  White  House.    153 
How  Lincoln  Stood  up  for  the  Word    "Sugar-Coat- 
ed."     123 


IO  CONTENTS. 

How  Lincoln  and  Stanton  Dismissed  Applicants  for 

Office. 138 

How  the  Negroes  Regarded  '  'Massa  Lincoln" 1 54 

Lincoln's  Advice  to  a  Prominent  Bachelor 124 

Looking  Out  for  Breakers 128 

Lincoln's  Confab    with   a    Committee  on    "Grant's 

Whisky." 131 

Lincoln  and  the  Artist 133 

Lincoln  and  the  Preacher 142 

Lincoln  and  Little  '  'Tad." 142 

Lincoln  Wipes  the  Tears  from  his  Eyes  and  Tells  a 

Story 147 

Lincoln  Arguing  Against  the  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation that  he  May  Learn  all  About  It 149 

Lincoln  and  the  Newspapers 150 

Lincoln's   Bull-frog  Story 150 

Lincoln's  Story  of  a  Poodle  Dog 151 

Lincoln's  Speech  to  the  Union  League 152 

Lincoln  and  the  Wall  Street  Gamblers 154 

Lincoln's  Habits  in  the  White  House 157 

Lincoln's  High  Compliment  to  the  Women  of  Amer- 
ica   158 

Lincoln  in  the  Hour  of  Great   Sorrow 159 

Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  Bashful  Boys 125 

Minnehaha  and  Minneboohoo! 133 

More  Light  and  Less  Noise 135 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Laugh 150 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Remedy  for  Baldness 168 

Opened  his  Eyes 132 

One  of  Lincoln's    Drolleries 137 

One  of  Lincoln's  Last  Stories 156 

Philosophy  of  Canes 130 


CONTENTS.  1 1 

Stories  Illustrating  Lincoln's  Memory 129 

Seward  and  Chase 167 

Trying  the  "Greens"  on  Jake 121 

Telling  a  Story  and  Pardoning  a  Soldier 162 

Where  the  President's  Mind  Wandered 141 

WAR  STORIES. 

A  Soldier  that  Knew  no  Royalty 173 

A  Little  Soldier  Boy 1 74 

A  Remarkable  Letter 183 

A  '  'Henpecked  Husband" 185 

A  Short  Practical  Sermon 1 86 

A  Celebrated  Case 186 

A  Church  Which  God  Wanted  for  the   Union   Sol- 
diers    1 90 

An  Interesting  Incident  Connected  with  Signing  the 

Emancipation  Proclamation 194 

A  Dream  that  was    Portentous;  What  Lincoln  said 

to  Gen.  Grant  Said  About  It 175 

A  Merciful  President 201 

A  Touching  Incident  in  the  Life  of  Lincoln 207 

A  Joke  on  Mr.  Chase 209 

"A  Great  Deal  of  Shuck  for  a  Little  Nubbin" 226 

A  Position  that  Lincoln    Wanted 228 

An  Inauguration  Incident 238 

A  Lincoln  Story  About  Little  Dan  Webster's  Soiled 

Hands;  How  Dan  Escaped  a  Flogging 229 

"Borrowing  the  Army 178 

D.    L.     Moody's    Story  of    Lincoln's    Compassion; 
What  a  Little  Girl  Did  with  Mr.  Lincoln  to  Save 

her  Brother 231 

Dr.  Edwards  Bumping  the  President 236 


12  CONTENTS. 

Gen.  C.  H.  Howard's  Reminiscences 221 

Getting  at  the  Pass-word 223 

His  Visits  to  the  Hospitals 179 

How  Lincoln  Relieved  Rosecrans 192 

How  a  Negro  Argued  the  Point 203 

How  Lincoln    Associated  his    Second    Nomination 

with  a  very  Singular  Circumstance 205 

How  Lincoln  Illustrated  what  Might  be  Done   with 

Jeff  Davis 208 

How  Lincoln  Told  a  Secret 215 

Hon.  Frederick  Douglas'  Reminiscences 233 

Hon.  Leonard  Sweet's  Reminiscenses 216 

Lincoln's  Vow 178 

Lincoln's  Politeness 1 79 

Lincoln's  Curt  Reply  to    a  Clergyman 185 

Lincoln's  Cutting  Reply  to  the  Confederate  Commis- 
sion      1 99 

Lincoln  and   Judge  Baldwin 200 

Lincoln-  and  the  Colored  People  of  Richmond ......    218 

Lincoln's  First  Convictions  of  War;  His  Great  Sad- 
ness     220 

Lincoln  and  a  Clergyman 224 

Lincoln  and  the  Little  Baby;  A  Touching  Story. ...    230 

Lincoln  "Taking  up  a  Collection" 237 

Lincoln  and  Stanton  Fixing  up    Peace    Between  the 

Two    Contending  Armies 239 

Mr.  Lincoln  and  a  Clergyman 182 

No  Mercy  for  the  Man  Stealer.  . .  . ; 202 

Pardons  a  Soldier 176 

Recollections  of  the  War  President  by   Judge    Wil- 
liam Johnson 187 

Story  of  Andy  Johnson  and  his   Doubtful  Interest  in 


CONTENTS.  1 3 

Prayers 171 

Sallie  Ward's  Practical  Philosophy 175 

The  Serpent  in  Bed  with  Two  Children 198 

The  President's  Aversion  to    Bloodshed 212 

The  President  Advises  Secretary  Stanton  to  Prepare 

for  Death 225 

' 'Tad's"  Rebel   Flag 227 

The  Brigadier  General  and  the  Horses 238 

Two  Hundred  and  Fifty  Thousand  Passes  to  Rich- 
mond    216 

MISCELLANEOUS  STORIES,  ETC. 

Attending  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  Church 243 

An  Amusing  Illustration 249 

Abraham  Lincoln's  Death;  Walt    Whitman's  Vivid 

Description  of  the  Scene  at  Ford's  Theater 281 

Didn't  Know  his  Own  House;    How    Mrs.    Lincoln 

Surprised  her  Husband 271 

Funeral  Services  of  Lincoln's  Mother;  The  Old  Pas- 
tor and  Young  Abraham 251 

How  Lincoln  Took  his  Altitude;  A  Prophetic   Bowl 

of  Milk 255 

Lincoln's  Love  for  Little  Tad 244 

Lincoln  at  the  Five    Points  House   of   Industry  in 

New  York 245 

Lincoln  and  his  New    Hat 246 

Lincoln's  Failure  as  a  Merchant;  He,  However,  Six 

Years  Later  Pays  the  "National  Debt." 247 

Lincoln's  Feat  at  the  Washington  Navy  Yard    with 

an  Axe 248 

How  Lincoln  won  the  Nomination  for  Congress. ...  257 
How  Lincoln  won  a  Case  from  his  Partner 263 


14  CONTENTS. 

Lincoin's  Life  as  Written  by   Himself;    The   Whole 

Thing  in  a  Nut  Shell 265 

Lincoln's  Foster-Mother;  Her  Romantic  Marriage  to 

Thomas  Lincoln 272 

Little  Lincoln  Stories 275 

Lincoln's  Last  Story  and  Last  Written    Words    and 

Conversation 279 

Lincoln's  Favorite  Poem 288 

Lincoln  as  a  Lover 265 

Something    Concerning    Mr.     Lincoln's     Religious 

Views 253 

Thurlow  Weed's  Recollections 254 

LINCOLN'S  SPEECHES— 1832-1865. 

A  Great  Congressional  Speech 326 

A  Fourth  of  July  Speech 446 

Douglas'  Seven  Question's 386 

"God  Bless  the  Women  of  America" 449 

Exculpating  the  Whigs 302 

Forquer's  Lightning  Rod  is  Struck 294 

First  Talk  After  Nomination 423 

First  Inaugural  Address 429 

First  Speech  After  Nomination 423 

Lincoln's  First  Political  Speech 291 

Lincoln's  First  Speech  in  the  Supreme  Court 301 

Lincoln's  Temperance  Speech 309 

Lincoln  "Linked  to  Truth" 347 

Lincoln's  First  Speech  in  the  Senatorial  Campaign..  348 

Lincoln's  Great  Cooper  Institute  Speech 393 

Lincoln's  Rail  Splitting  Speech 422 

Lincoln's  Speech  at  Gettysburg. 448 

Lincoln's  Second  Inaugral 453 


CONTENTS.  15 

Lincoln's  Religious  Belief 464 

Lincoln's  Speech  in  Washington 426 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Debate  with  Douglas 361 

National  Bank  vs.    Sub-Treasury 3°3 

President  Lincoln's  Last  Speech 45  8 

Showing  his  Hand 293 

Speech  After  the  Battle  of  the  Wilderness 450 

Speech  on  the  War .  •  •  •  45 l 

Speech  to  140th  Indiana  Regiment 455 

The  Perpetuity  of  Our  Free  Institutions 295 

'  'The  Age  is  Not  Dead" 345 

The  Ballot  vs.  the  Bullet 345 

The  Emancipation  Proclamation 443 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Birthplace  of  Abraham  Lincoln 19 

Unforgotten 25 

Early  Home  of  the  Lincolns   in  Illinois 31 

White  Pigeon  Church 3$ 

The  Old  Capitol  Building  at  Springfield,    111 48 

Lincoln's  Residence  at  Springfield,  111 73 

Abraham  Lincoln  the  Young   Lawyer 74 

Gen.  James  A.    Garfield 79 

Mrs.  Sarah  Bush  Lincoln,  Lincoln's  Stepmother..  .  81 

W.  H.  Herndon,  Lincoln's  Law  Partner. 102 

The  Republican  Wigwam  at  Chicago,    Where  Lin- 
coln was  Nominated 107 

John  Hanks,  Lincoln's  Rail  Splitting  Companion..  118 

United  States  Capitol 120 

Lincoln's  Family  at  Home  in  the  White  House  ....  146 

Mrs.  John  A.  Logan 158 

The  Dawn 195 


1 6  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Gen.  Grant  After  his    Return  from    a  Tour  of  the 

World 1 96 

Birthplace  of  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant 207 

Dwight  L.  Moody 231 

Gen.  Grant's  Monument  at  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago . .  240 

Henry  Ward  Beecher 242 

Lincoln's  Father's  Monument,  near  Rockford,  Ind..  250 

Triumphal  Arch 258 

The  Original  Fort  Dearborn  (as  built  in   1804) ....  261 
The  Lincoln  Family  Moving  from  Kentucky  to  Indi- 
ana in   1816 273 

The  House  in  Which  Lincoln  Died,  April  15,  1865.  287 
Monument  of  Abraham  Lincoln  at    Lincoln    Park, 

Chicago 292 

George  Washington,  First  President  of   the  United 

States 299 

The  Fountain 308 

Temptation 311 

The  Dance  and  the   '  'Gulf" 319 

The  Waiting  Wife 323 

Gen.  Taylor's  Army  near  Popocataptl,  in  Mexico..  341 

Capitol  at  Springfield 34J 

The  Old  Jerasulem  Which  Fell 369 

Half  Slave  and  Half  Free 371 

Our  Savior  Performing  the  Miracle   in  Cana 384 

Lincoln  Raising  the   Flag  on    Independence    Hall, 

Philadelphia 425 

First  Inauguration 428 

Lincoln's  Burial 466 

Lincoln's  Tomb 470 

Bronze  Pieces,  Etc 47 1 

:o: 


LINCOLN'S  STORIES, 

RELATED     BY    HIMSELF     AND    BY     OTHERS. 

:o: 

EARLY  LIFE. 


How  Lincoln  Earned  His  First  Dollar. 

The  following  interesting  storywas  told  by  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  Mr.  Seward  and  a  few  friends  one  evening  in  the 
Executive  Mansion  at  Washington.  The  President  said: 
"Seward,  you  never  heard,  did  you,  how  I  earned  my 
first  dollar  ?" 

"No,"  rejoined  Mr.  Seward. 

"Well,"  continued  Mr.  Lincoln,  "I  belonged,  you 
know,  to  what  they  call  down  South,  the  'scrubs.'  We 
had  succeeded  in  raising,  chiefly  by  my  labor,  sufficient 
produce,  as  I  thought,  to  justify  me  in  taking  it  down  the 
river  to  sell. 

'.  'After  much  persuasion,  I  got  the  consent  of  mother 
to  go,  and  constructed  a  little  flatboat,  large  enough  to 
take  a  barrel  or  two  of  things  that  we  had  gathered,  with 
myself  and  little  bundle,  down  to  the  Southern  market. 
A  steamer  was  coming  down  the  river.  We  have,  you 
know,  no  wharves  on  the  Western  streams;  and  the 
custom  was,  if  passengers  were  at  any  of  the  landings, 
for  them  to  go  out  in  a  boat,  the  steamer  stopping  and 
taking  them  on  board. 

"I  was  contemplating  my  new  flatboat,  and  wondering 

[17] 


1 8         LINCOLN'S  STORIES  AND  SPEECHES. 

whether  I  could  make  it  strong  or  improve  it  in  any  par- 
ticular, when  two  men  came  down  to  the  shore  in  car- 
riages with  trunks,  and  looking  at  the  different  boats 
singled  out  mine,  and  asked,  'Who  owns  this?'  I  an- 
swered, somewhat  modestly,  'I  do.'  'Will  you,"  said 
one  ol  them,  'take  us  and  our  trunks  out  to  the  steamer?' 
'Certainly,'  said  I.  I  was  very  glad  to  have  the  chance 
of  earning  something.  I  suppose  that  each  of  them 
would  give  me  two  or  three  bits.  The  trunks  were  put 
on  my  flatboat,  the  passengers  seated  themselves  on  the 
trunks,  and  I  sculled  them  out  to  the  steamboat . 

'•They  got  on  board,  and  I  lifted  up  their  heavy 
trunks,  and  put  them  on  deck.  The  steamer  was  about 
to  put  on  steam  again,  when  I  called  out  that  they  had 
forgotten  to  pay  me.  Each  of  them  took  from  his  pocket 
a  silver  half-dollar,  and  threw  it  on  the  floor  of  my  boat. 
I  could  scarcely  believe  my  eyes  as  I  picked  up  the 
money.  Gentlemen,  you  may  think  it  was  a  very  little 
thing,  and  in  these  days  it  seems  to  me  a  trifle;  but  it  was 
a  most  important  incident  in  my  life.  I  could  scarcely 
credit  that  I,  a  poor  bo3%  had  earned  a  dollar.  The 
world  seemed  wider  and  fairer  before  me.  I  was  a  more 
hopeful  and  confident  being  from  that  time." 


■:o:- 


An  Honest  Boy — Young  Lincoln  "Pulls  Fodder" 
Two  Dajs  for  a  Damaged  Book. 

The  following  incident,  illustrating  several  traits  al- 
ready developed  in  the  early  boyhood  of  Lincoln,  is 
vouched  for  by  a  citizen  of  Evansville,  Ind."  who  knew 
him  in  the  days  referred  to: 

In  his  eagerness  to  acquire    knowledge,  young  Lincoln 


20  LINCOLN    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

had  borrowed  of  Mr.  Crawford,  a  neighboring  farmer, 
a  copy  of  Weems'  Life  of  Washington — the  only  one 
known  to  be  in  existence  in  that  region  of  the  country. 
Before  he  had  finished  reading  the  book,  it  had  been  left, 
by  a  not  unnatural  oversight,  in  a  window.  Meantime  a 
rainstorm  came  on,  and  the  book  was  so  thoroughly  wet 
as  to  make  it  nearly  worthless.  This  mishap  caused  him 
much  pain;  but  he  went,  in  all  honesty,  to  Mr.  Crawford 
with  the  ruined  book,  explained  the  calamity  that  had 
happened  through  his  neglect,  and  offered,  not  having 
sufficient  money,  to  "work  out"  the  value  of  the  book. 

"Well,  Abe,"  said  Mr.  Crawford,  after  due  delibera- 
tion, "as  it's  you,  I  won't  be  hard  on  you.  Just  come 
over  and  pull  fodder  for  me  two  days,  and  we  will  call 
our  accounts  even." 

The  offer  was  readily  accepted,  and  the  engagement 
literally  fulfilled.  As  a  boy,  no  less  than  since,  Abraham 
Lincoln  had  an  honorable  conscientiousness,  integrity, 
industry,  and  an  ardent  love  of  knowledge. 


:o: 


Little  Lincoln  Firing  at  Big  Game  Through  the 
Cracks  of  His  Cabin  Home. 

i 

While  yet  a  little  boy,  one  day  when  Lincoln  was  in 
his  cabin  home,  in  what  was  then  a  wilderness  in  Indi- 
ana, he  chanced  to  look  through  a  crack  in  the  log  walls 
of  the  humble  residence  and  espied  a  flock  of  wild  tur- 
keys feeding  within  range  of  his  father's  trusty  rifle.  He 
at  once  took  in  the  possibilities  of  the  situation  and  ven- 
tured to  take  down  the  old  gun,  and  putting  the  long 
barrel  through  the  opening,  with  a  hasty  aim,  fired  into 
the  flock.     When  the  smoke  had  cleared  away,  it  was  ob- 


EARLY    LIFE.  21 

served  that  one  of  the  turkeys  lay  dead  on  the  field.  This 
is  said  to  have  been  the  largest  game  on  which  Lincoln 
ever  pulled  a  trigger,  his  brilliant  success  in  this  instance 
having  no  power  to  excite  in  him  the  passion  for  hunting. 


•:o: 


An  Incident  of  Lincoln's  Early  Hardships  and 
Narrow  Escape  from  Death. 

A  little  incident  occurred  while  young  Lincoln  lived  in 
Indiana,  which  illustrates  the  early  hardships  and  sur- 
roundings to  which  he  was  subjected.  On  one  occasion 
he  was  obliged  to  take  his  grist  upon  the  back  of  his 
father's  horse,  and  go  fifty  miles  to  get  it  ground.  The 
mill  itself  was  very  rude,  and  driven  by  horse-power, 
The  customers  were  obliged  to  wait  their  "turn,"  with- 
out reference  to  their  distance  from  home,  and  then 
use  their  own  horse  to  propel  the  machinery.  On  this 
occasion,  Abraham,  having  arrived  at  his  turn,  fastened 
his  mare  to  the  lever,  and  was  following  her  closely  upon 
her  rounds,  when,  urging  her  with  a  switch,  and  "cluck- 
ing" to  her  in  the  usual  way,  he  received  a  kick  from  her 
which  prostrated  him,  and  made  him  insensible.  With 
the  first  instant  of  returning  consciousness,  he  finished 
the  cluck,  which  he  had  commenced  when  he  received 
the  kick  (a  fact  for  the  psychologist),  and  with  the  next 
he  probably  thought  about  getting  home,  where  he  ar- 
rived at  last,  battered,  but  ready  for  further  service. 


■:o: 


Young  Lincoln's  Kindness  of  Heart — He  Carries 
Home  and  Nurses  a  Drunkard. 

An  instance   of  young  Lincoln's  practical   humanity  at 


22  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

an  early  period  of  his  life  is  recorded,  as  follows:  One 
evening,  while  returning  from  a  "raising"  in  his  wide 
neighborhood,  with  a  number  of  companions,  he  dis- 
covered a  straying  horse,  with  saddle  and  bridle  upon 
him.  The  horse  was  recognized  as  belonging  to  a  man 
who  was  accustomed  to  excess  in  drink,  and  it  was  sus- 
pected at  once  that  the  owner  was  not  far  off.  A  short 
search  only  was  necessary  to  confirm  the  suspicions  of 
the  young  men. 

The  poor  drunkard  was  found  in  a  perfectly  helpless  con- 
dition, upon  the  chilly  ground.  Abraham's  companions 
urged  the  cowardly  policy  of  leaving  him  to  his  fate,  but 
young  Lincoln  would  not  hear  to  the  proposition.  At 
his  request,  the  miserable  sot  was  lifted  on  his  shoulders, 
and  he  actually  carried  him  eighty  rods  to  the  nearest 
house.  Sending  word  to  his  father  that  he  should  not  be 
back  that  night,  with  the  reason  for  his  absence,  he  at- 
tended and  nursed  the  man  until  the  morning,  and  had 
the  pleasure  of  believing  that  he  had  saved  his  life 


:o: 


Young  Lincoln  and  His  Books — Their  Influence 

on  His  Mind. 

The  books  which  Abraham  had  the  early  privilege  of 
reading  were  the  Bible,  much  of  which  he  could  repeat, 
^Esop's  Fables,  all  of  which  he  could  repeat,  Pilgrim's 
Progress,  Weems'  Life  of  Washington,  and  a  Life  of 
Henry  Clay,  which  his  mother  had  managed  to  purchase 
for  him.  Subsequently  he  read  the  Life  of  Franklin  and 
Ramsey's  Life  of  Washington.  In  these  books,  read  and 
re-read,  he  found  meat  for    his  hungry  mind.      The  Holy 


EARLY    LIFE.  23 

Bible,  yEsop  and  John  Bunyan — could  three  better  books 
have  been  chosen  for  him  from  the  richest  library  ? 

For  those  who  have  witnessed  the  dissipating  effects  of 
many  books  upon  the  minds  of  modern  children  it  is  not 
hard  to  believe  that  Abraham's  poverty  of  books  was  the 
wealth  of  his  life.  These  three  books  did  much  to  per- 
fect that  which  his  mother's  teachings  had  begun,  and  to 
form  a  character  which,  for  quaint  simplicity,  earnest- 
ness, truthfulness  and  purity  has  never  been  surpassed 
among  the  historic  personages  of  the  world.  The  Life 
of  Washington,  while  it  gave  him  a  lofty  example  of 
patriotism,  incidentally  conveyed  to  his  mind  a  general 
knowledge  of  American  history;  and  the  Life  of  Henry 
Clay  spoke  to  him  of  a  living  man  who  had  risen  to  politi- 
cal and  professional  eminence  from  circumstances  almost 
as  humble  as  his  own. 

The  latter  book  undoubtedly  did  much  to  excite  his  taste 
for  politics,  to  kindle  his  ambition,  and  to  make  him  a 
warm  admirer  and  partisan  of  Henry  Clay.  Abraham 
must  have,  been  very  young  when  he  read  Weems'  Life 
of  Washington,  and  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  his  precocity 
in  the  thoughts  which  it  excited,  as  revealed  by  himself 
in  a  speech  made  to  the  New  Jersey  Senate,  while  on  his 
way  to  Washington  to  assume  the  duties  of  the  Presi- 
dency. 

Alluding  to  his  early  reading  of  this  book,  he  says:  "I 
remember  all  the  accounts  there  given  of  the  battle  fields 
and  struggles  for  the  liberties  of  the  country,  and  none 
fixed  themselves  upon  my  imagination  so  deeply  as  the 
struggle  here  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  -  *  *  I  rccol* 
lect  thinking  then,  a  boy  even  though  I  was,  that  there 
must  hrve  been  something  more  than  common  that  those 


24  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

men  struggled  for."     Even  at  this  age,  he  was  not  only 
an  interested  reader  of  the  story,  but  a  student  of  motives. 

:o: 

Lincoln   and   His    Gentle  Annie — A    Touching 

Incident. 

The  following  interesting  particulars   connected    with 
the  early  life  of  Abraham  Linclon,  are  from  the  Virginia      i 
(111.)  Euqtiirer,  of  date  March  I,  1879: 

John  McNamer  was  buried  last  Sunday,  near  Peters- 
burg, Menard  County.  A  long  while  ago  he  was  Assessor 
and  Treasurer  of  the  county  for  several  successive  terms. 
Mr.  McNamer  was  an  early  settler  in  that  section,  and 
before  the  Town  of  Petersburg  was  laid  out  was  in  busi- 
ness at  Old  Salem,  a  village  that  existed  many  years  ago 
two  miles  south  of  the  present  site  of  Petersburg.  Abe 
Lincoln  was  then  postmaster  of  the  place,  and  sold 
whisky  to  its  inhabitants.  There  are  old-timers  yet  liv- 
ing in  Menard  who  bought  many  a  jug  of  corn-juice  from 
Old  Abe,  when  he  lived  at  Salem.  It  was  here  that 
Annie  Rutlege  dwelt,  and  in  whose  grave  Lincoln  wrote 
that  his  heart  was  burried.  As  the  story  runs,  the  fair 
and  gentle  Annie  was  originally  John  McNamer's  sweet- 
heart, but  Abe  took  a  '  'shine"  to  the  young  lady,  and 
succeeded  in  heading  off  McNamer,  and  won  her  affec- 
tions. But  Annie  Rutlege  died,  and  Lincoln  went  to 
Springfield,  where  he  some  time  afterwards  married. 

It  is  related  that  during  the  war  a  lady  belonging  to  a 
prominent  Kentucky  family  visited  Washington  to  beg  for 
her  sons  pardon,  who  was  then  in  prison  under  sentence 
of  death  for  belonging  to  a  band  of  guerrillas  who  had 
committed  many  murders  and  outrages.   With  the  mother 


26  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

was  her  daughter,  a  beautiful  young  lady,  who  was  an 
accomplished  musician.  Mr.  Lincoln  received  the  visi- 
tors in  his  usual  kind  manner,  and  the  mother  made 
known  the  object  of  her  visit,  accompanying  her  plea 
with  tears  and  sobs  and  all  the  customary  dramatic  inci- 
dents. 

There  were  probably  extenuating  circumstances  in  favor 
of  the  young  rebel  prisoner,  and  while  the  President 
seemed  to  be  deeply  pondering,  the  young  lady  moved  to 
a  piano  near  by,  and  taking  a  seat  commenced  to  sing 
"Gentle  Annie,"  a  very  sweet  and  pathetic  ballad,  which, 
before  the  war,  was  a  familiar  song  in  almost  every 
household  in  the  Union,  and  is  not  yet  entirely  forgotten, 
for  that  matter.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  young 
lady  sang  the  song  with  more  plaintiveness  and  effect 
than  Old  Abe  had  ever  heard  it  in  Springfield.  During 
its  rendition, he  arose  from  his  seat,  crossed  the  room  to 
a  window  in  the  westward,  through  which  he  gazed  for 
several  minutes  with  that  "sad,  far-away  look,"  which 
has  so  often  been  noted  as  one  of  his  peculiarities.  His 
memory,  no  doubt,  went  back  to  the  days  of  his  hlhrible 
life  on  the  banks  of  the  Sangamon,  and  with  visions  of 
Old  Salem  and  its  rustic  people,  who  once  gathered  in 
his  primitive  store,  came  a  picture  of  the  "Gentle  Annie" 
of  his  youth,  whose  ashes  had  rested  for  many  long  years 
under  the  wild  flowers  and  brambles  of  the  old  rural 
burying-ground,  but  whose  spirit  then,  perhaps,  guided 
him  to  the  side  of  mercy.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Mr.  Lincoln 
drew  a  large  red  silk  handkerchief  from  his  coat-pocket, 
with  which  he  wiped  his  face  vigorously.  Then  he  turned, 
advanced  quickly  to  his  desk,  wrote  a  brief  note,  which 
he  handed  to  the  lady,  and  informed    her  that  it  was  the 


EARLY    LIFE.  2J7 

pardon  she  sought.  The  scene  was  no  doubt  touching 
in  a  great  degree,  and  proves  that  a  nice  song,  well 
sung,  has  often  a  powerful  influence  in  recalling  tender 
recollections.  It  proves,  also,  that  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  a  man  of  fine  feelings,  and  that,  if  the  occurrence 
was  a  put-up  job  on  the  lady's  part,  it  accomplished  its 
purpose  all  the  same. 


:o:- 


Incidents  Illustrating  Lincoln's  Honesty. 

Lincoln  could  not  rest  for  an  instant  under  the  con- 
sciousness that  he  had,  even  unwittingly,  defrauded  any- 
body. On  one  occasion,  while  clerking  in  Offutt's  store, 
at  New  Salem,  111.,  he  sold  a  woman  a  little  bill  of  goods, 
amounting  in  value  by  the  reckoning,  to  two  dollars  six 
and  a  quarter  cents.  He  received  the  money,  and  the 
woman  went  away.  On  adding  the  items  of  the  bill 
again,  to  make  himself  sure  of  correctness,  he  found  that 
he  had  taken  six  and  a  quarter  cents  too  much.  It  was 
night,  and,  closing  and  locking  the  store,  he  started  out 
on  foot,  a  distance  of  two  or  three  miles,  for  the  house  of 
his  defrauded  customer,  and.  delivering  over  to  her  the 
sum  whose  possession  had  so  much  troubled  him,  went 
home  satisfied. 

On  another  occasion,  just  as  he  was  closing  the  store 
for  the  night,  a  woman  entered,  and  asked  for  a  half 
pound  of  tea.  The  tea  was  weighed  out  and  paid  for, 
and  the  store  was  left  for  the  night.  The  next  morning 
Lincoln  entered  to  begin  the  duties  of  the  day,  when  he 
discovered  a  four-ounce  weight  on  the  scales.  He  saw 
at  once  that  he  had  made  a  mistake,  and,  shutting  the 
store,  he  took  a  long  walk  before  breakfast  to  deliver  the 


28  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

remainder  of  the  tea.  These  are  very  humble  incidents, 
but  they  illustrate  the  man's  perfect  conscientiousness — 
his  sensitive  honesty — better,  perhaps,  than  they  would 
if  they  were  of  greater  moment. 


:o:- 


How  Lincoln  Helped  to  Build  a  Boat,  and  How 
He  Loaded  the  Live  Stock. 

While  a  laboring  man,  Lincoln,  Hanks  &  Johnston  on 
one  occasion  contracted  to  build  a  boat  on  Sangamon 
River,  at  Sangamon  Town,  about  seven  miles  northwest 
of  Springfield.  For  this  work  they  were  to  receive  twelve 
dollars  a  month  each.  When  the  boat  was  finished  (and 
every  plank  of  it  was  sawed  by  hand  with  a  whip-saw), 
it  was  launched  on  the  Sangamon,  and  floated  to  a  point 
below  New  Salem,  in  Menard  (then  Sangamon)  County, 
where  a  drove  of  hogs  was  to  be  taken  on  board.  At 
this  time,  the  hogs  of  the  region  ran  wild,  as  they  do  now 
in  portions  of  the  border  states.  Some  of  them  were 
savage,  and  all  after  the  manner  of  swine,  were  difficult 
to  manage.  They  had,  however,  been  gathered  and 
penned,  but  not  an  inch  could  they  be  made  to  move 
toward  the  boat.  All  the  ordinary  resources  were  ex- 
hausted in  the  attempts  to  get  them  on  board.  There 
was  but  one  alternative,  and  this  Abraham  adopted.  He 
actually  carried  them  on  board,  one  by  one.  His  long 
arms  and  great  strength  enabled  him  to  grasp  them  as  in 
a  vise,  and  to  transfer  them  rapidly  from  the  shore  to  the 
boat.  They  then  took  the  boat  to  New  Orleans,  ac- 
cording to  contract. 


EARLY    LIFE.  2Q 

How  Lincoln  Resented  an  Insult. 

While  showing  goods  to  two  or  three  women  in  Offutt's 
store  one  day,  a  bully  came  in  and  began  to  talk  in  an 
offensive  manner,  using  much  profanity,  and  evidently 
wishing  to  provoke  a  quarrel.  Lincoln  leaned  over  the 
counter  and  begged  him,  as  ladies  were  present,  not  to 
indulge  in  such  talk.  The  bully  retorted  that  the  oppor- 
tunity had  come  for  which  he  had  long  sought,  and  he 
would  like  to  see  the  man  who  could  hinder  him  from 
saying  anything  he  might  choose  to  say.  Lincoln,  still 
cool,  told  him  that  if  he  would  wait  until  the  ladies  re- 
tired he  would  hear  what  he  had  to  say,  and  give  him  any 
satisfaction  he  desired. 

As  soon  as  the  women  were  gone,  the  man  became  furi- 
ous. Lincoln  heard  his  boasts  and  his  abuse  for  a  time, 
and  finding  that  he  was  not  to  be  put  off  without  a  fight, 
said:  "Well,  if  you  must  be  whipped,  I  suppose  I  may  as 
well  whip  you  as  any  other  man. "  This  was  just  what  the 
bully  had  been  seeking,  he  said,  so  out  of  doors  they  went, 
and  Lincoln  made  short  work  with  him.  He  threw  him 
upon  the  ground,  held  him  there  as  if  he  had  been  a  child, 
and  gathering  some  "smart-weed"  which  grew  upon  the 
spot,  rubbed  it  into  his  face  and  eyes,  until  the  fellow  bel- 
lowed with  pain.  Lincoln  did  all  this  without  a  particle  of 
anger,  and  when  the  job  was  finished,  went  immediately 
for  water,  washed  his  victim's  face,  and  did  everything  he 
could  to  alleviate  his  distress.  The  upshot  of  the  matter 
was  that  the  man  became  his  fast  and  life-long  friend,  and 
was  a  better  man  from  that  day.  It  was  impossible  then, 
and  it  always  remained  for  Lincoln  to  cherish  resentment 
or  revenge. 


30  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

What  Some  Men  Say  About  Lincoln — His  First 
Meeting  With  Richard  Yates. 

Lincoln  was  a  marked  and  peculiar  young  man.  Peo- 
ple talked  about  him .  His  studious  habits,  his  greed 
for  information,  his  thorough  mastery  of  the  difficulties 
of  every  new  position  in  which  he  was  placed,  his  intelli- 
gence touching  all  matters  of  public  concern,  his  un- 
wearying good  nature,  his  skill  in  telling  a  story,  his 
great  athletic  power,  his  quaint,  odd  ways,  his  uncouth 
appearance,  all  tending  to  bring  him  in  sharp  contrast 
with  the  dull  mediocrity  by  which  he  was  surrounded. 
Denton  Offutt,  his  old  employer  in  the  store,  said,  after 
having  a  conversation  with  Lincoln,  that  the  young  man 
"had  talent  enough  in  him  to  make  a  President."  In 
every  circle  in  which  he  found  himself,  whether  refined 
or  coarse,  he  was  always  the  center  of  attraction. 

William  G.  Greene  says  that  when  he  (Greene)  was  a 
member  of  the  Illinois  College,  he  brought  home  with 
him,  on  a  vacation,  Richard  Yates,  afterwards  Governor 
of  the  State,,  and  some  other  boys,  and;  in  order  to 
entertain  them,  took  them  all  up  to  see  Lincoln.  He 
found  him  in  his  usual  position  and  at  his  usual  occupa- 
tion. He  was  flat  on  his  back,  on  a  cellar  door,  reading 
a  newspaper.  That  was  the  manner  in  which  a  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  and  a  Governor  of  Illinois  be- 
came acquainted  with  one  another.  Mr.  Greene  says 
that  Lincoln  then  repeated  the  whole  of  Burns,  and  was  a 
devoted  student  of  Shakspeare.  So  the  rough  back- 
woodsman, self-educated,  entertained  the  college  boys, 
and  was  invited  to  dine  with  them  on  bread  and  milk. 
How  he  managed  to  upset  his  bowl  of  milk  is  not  a  mat- 


32  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

ter  of  history,  but  the  fact  that  he  did  so,  as  is  the  furth- 
er fact  that  Greene's  mother,  who  loved  Lincoln,  tried  to 
smooth  over  the  accident  and  relieve  the  young  man's 
embarassment. 


■:o:- 


A  Pig  Story — Lincoln's  Kindness  to  the  Brute 

Creation. 

An  amusing  incident  occurred  in  connection  with 
"riding  the  circuit,"  which  gives  a  pleasant  glimpse  into 
the  good  lawyer's  heart.  He  was  riding  by  a  deep 
slough,  in  which,  to  his  exceeding  pain,  he  saw  a  pig 
struggling,  and  with  such  faint  efforts  that  it  was  evident 
that  he  could  not  extricate  himself  from  the  mud.  Mr. 
Lincoln  looked  at  the  pig  and  the  mud  which  enveloped 
him,  and  then  looked  at  some  new  clothes  with  which 
he  had  but  a  short  time  before  enveloped  himself.  De- 
ciding against  the  claims  of  the  pig,  he  rode  on,  but  he 
could  not  get  rid  of  the  vision  of  the  poor  brute,  and,  at 
last,  after  riding  two  miles,  he  turned  back,  determined 
to  rescue  the  animal  at  the  expense  of  his  new  clothes. 
Arrived  at  the  spot,  he  tied  his  horse,  and  cooly  went 
to  work  to  build  of  old  rails  a  passage  to  the  bottom  of 
the  hole.  Descending  on  these  rails,  he  seized  the  pig 
and  dragged  him  out,  but  not  without  serious  damage  to 
the  clothes  he  wore.  Washing  his  hands  in  the  nearest 
brook,  and  wiping  them  on  the  grass,  he  mounted  his 
gig  and  rode  along.  He  then  fell  to  examining  the  mo- 
tive that  sent  him  back  to  the  release  of  the  pig,  At  the 
first  thought  it  seemed  to  be  pure  benevolence,  but,  at 
length,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  selfishness, 
for  he  certainly  went  to  the  pig's   relief  in  order  (as  he 


EARLY    LIFE.  33 

said  to  the  friend  to  whom  he  related  the  incident,) 
"to  take  a  pain  out  of  his  own  mind."  This  is  certainly 
a  new  view  of  the  nature  of  sympathy;  and  one  which  it 
will  be  well  for  the  casuist  to  examine. 


■:o:- 


A  Hard  Tussle  With  Seven  Negroes — Life  on  a 
Mississippi  Fiat-Boat. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen,  Abraham  made  his  second  es- 
say in  navigation,  and  this  time  caught  something  more 
than  a  glimpse  of  the  great  world  in  which  he  was  des- 
tined to  play  so  important  a  part.  A  trading  neighbor 
applied  to  him  to  take  charge  of  a  flat-boat  and  its  cargo, 
and,  in  company  with  his  own  son,  to  take  it  to  the  sugar 
plantations  near  New  Orleans.  The  entire  business  of 
the  trip  was  placed  in  Abraham's  hands.  The  fact  tells 
its  own  story  touching  the  young  man(s  reputation  for 
capacity  and  integrity.  He  had  never  made  the  trip, 
knew  nothing  of  the  journey,  was  unaccustomed  to  busi- 
ness transactions,  had  never  been  much  upon  the  river; 
but  his  tact,  ability  and  honesty  were  so  trusted  that  the 
trader  was  willing  to  risk  his  cargo  and  his  son  in  Lin- 
coln's care. 

The  incidents  of  a  trip  like  this  were  not  likely  to  be 
exciting,  but  there  were  many  social  chats  with  settlers 
and  hunters  along  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi, 
and  there  was  much  hailing  of  similar  craft  afloat.  Ar- 
riving at  a  sugar  plantation  somewhere  between  Natchez 
and  New  Orleans,  the  boat  was  pulled  in,  and  tied  to 
the  shore  for  purposes  of  trade;  and  here  an  incident  oc- 
curred which  was  sufficiently  exciting,  and  one  which,  in 
the  memory  of  recent  events,  reads  somewhat  strangely. 


34  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Here  seven  negroes  attempted  the  life  of  the  future  lib- 
erator of  the  race,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  some  of 
them  have  lived  to  be  emancipated  by  his  proclamation. 
Night  had  fallen,  and  the  two  tired  voyagers  had  lain 
down  on  their  hard  bed  for  sleep.  Hearing  a  noise  on 
shore,  Abraham  shouted: 

"Who's  there?" 

The  noise  continuing,  and  no  voice  replying,  he  sprang 
to  his  feet,  and  saw  seven  negroes,  evidently  bent  on 
plunder. 

Abraham  guessed  the  errand  at  once,  and  seizing  a 
hand-spike,  rushed  towards  them,  and  knocked  one  into 
the  water  the  moment  he  touched  the  boat.  The  second, 
third  and  fourth  who  leaped  on  board  were  served  in  the 
same  rough  way.  Seeing  that  they  were  not  likely  to 
make  headway  in  their  thieving  enterprise,  the  remainder 
turned  to  flee.  Abraham  and  his  companion  growing 
excited  and  warm  with  their  work,  leaped  on  shore,  and 
followed  them.  Both  were  too  swift  on  foot  for  the 
negroes,  and  all  of  them  received  a  severe  pounding. 
They  returned  to  their  boat  just  as  the  others  escaped 
from  the  water,  but  the  latter  fled  into  the  darkness  as 
fast  as  their  legs  could  carry  them.  Abraham  and  his 
fellow  in  the  fight  were  both  injured,  but  not  disabled. 
Not  being  armed,  and  unwilling  to  wait  until  the  negroes 
had  received  reinforcements,  they  cut  adrift,  and  floated 
down  a  mile  or  two,  tied  up  to  the  bank  again,  and 
watched  and  waited  for  the  morning. 

The  trip  was  brought  at  length  to  a  successful  end. 
The  cargo,  or  '  load,"  as  they  called  it,  was  all  disposed 
of  for  money,  the  boat  itself  sold  for  lumber,    and  the 


EARLY    LIFE.  35 

young  men  retraced  the  passage,  partly,  at  least,  on 
shore  and  on  foot,  occupying  several  weeks  in  the  diffi- 
cult and  tedious  journey. 

:o: 

Lincoln  Splits  Several  Hundred  Rails  for  a  Pair 

of  Pants — How  He  Looked,  as  Described 

by  a  Companion. 

A  gentleman  by  the  name  of  George  Cluse,  who  used 
to  work  with  Abraham  Lincoln  during  his  first  years  in 
Illinois,  says  that  at  that  time  he  was  the  roughest  look- 
ing person  he  ever  saw.  He  was  tall,  angular  and  un- 
gainly, wore  trousers  made  of  flax  and  tow,  cut  tight  at 
the  ankle  and  out  at  both  knees.  He  was  known  to  be 
very  poor,  but  he  was  a  welcome  guest  in  every  house 
in  the  neighborhoood.  Mi.  Cluse  speaks  of  splitting 
rails  with  Abraham,  and  reveals  some  very  interesting 
facts  concerning  wages.  Money  was  a  commodity 
never  reckoned  upon.  Lincoln  split  rails  to  get  cloth- 
ing, and  he  made  a  bargain  with  Mrs.  Nancy  Miller  to 
split  four  hundred  rails  for  every  yard  of  brown  jeans, 
dyed  with  white  walnut  bark,  that  would  be  necessary  to 
make  him  a  pair  of  trousers,  In  these  days  Lincoln 
used  to  walk  five,  six  and  seven  miles  to  work. 


-:o:- 


Lincoln's  Story  of  a  Girl  in  New  Salem. 

Among  the  numerous  delegations  which  thronged 
Washington  during  the  early  part  of  the  war,  was  one 
from  New  York,  which  urged  very  strenously  the  send- 
ing of  a  fleet  to  the  Southern  cities — Charleston,  Mobile 
and  Savannah — with  the  object  of  drawing  off  the   rebel 


36  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

army  from  Washington.  Mr.  Lincoln  said  the  object 
reminded  him  of  the  case  of  a  girl  in  New  Salem,  who 
was  greatly  troubled  with  a  '  'singing"  in  her  head.  Var- 
ious remedies  were  suggested  by  the  neighbors,  but  noth- 
ing tried  afforded  any  relief.  At  last  a  man  came  along 
—  "a  common  sense  sort  of  a  man,"  inclining  his  head 
toward  the  gentlemen  complimentarily — "who  was  ask- 
ed to  prescribe  for  the  difficulty.  After  due  inquiry  and 
examination,  he  said  the  cure  was  very  simple. 

'What  is  it?'  was  the  question. 

•Make  a  plaster  of  psalm-tunes ;  and  apply  to  her  feet, 
and  draw  the  "singing"  down"  was  the  rejoinder." 


:o:- 


Mrs.  Brown's  Story  of  Young  Abe — How  a  Man 

Slept  With  the  President  of  the 

United  States. 

Rev.  A.  Hale,  of  Springfield,  111.,  is  responsible  for 
the  following  interesting  story: 

Mr.  Hale,  in  May,  1861,  (after  Lincoln's  election  to 
the  Presidency)  went  out  about  seven  miles  from  his 
home  to  visit  a  sick  lady,  and  found  there  a  Mrs.  Brown 
who  had  come  in  as  a  neighbor.  Mr.  Lincoln's  name 
having  been  mentioned,  Mrs.  Brown  said: 

"Well,  I  remember  Mr.  Linken.  He  worked  with  my 
old  man  thirty-four  year  ago,  and  made  a  crap.  We 
lived  on  the  same  farm  where  we  live  now,  and  the  next 
winter  they  hauled  the  crap  all  the  way  to  Galena,  and 
sold  it  for  two  dollars  and  a  half  a  bushel.  At  that  time 
there  were  no  public  houses,  and  travelers  were  obliged 
to  stay  at  any  house  along  the  road  that  could  take  them 


EARLY    LIFE.  37 

in  .  One  evening  a  right  smart  looking  man  rode  up  to 
the  fence,  and  asked  my  old  man  if  he  could  get  to  stay 
over  night  ■ 

"  'Well,'  said  Mr.  Brown,  "we  can  feed  your  crittur, 
and  give  you  something  to  eat,  but  we  can't  lodge  you 
unless  you  can  sleep   on   the   same  bed   with    the  hired 

man.' 

"The  man  hesitated,  and  asked: 

"   'Where  is  he?' 

"  'Well,'  said    Mr.    Brown,    -you   can  come   and   see 

him.' 

"So  the  man  got  down  from  his  crittur,  and  Mr.  Brown 

took  him  around  to  where,  in  the  shade  of  the  house,  Mr. 

Linken  lay  his  full  length  on  the  ground,    with   an   open 

book  before  him . 

"  'There,'  said  Mr.  Brown,  pointing  at  him,   'he  is.' 

"The  stranger  looked  at  him  a  minute,  and  said: 

"  'Well,  I  think  he'll  do.'  and  he  staid  and  slept  with 

the  President  of  the  United  States." 


:o:- 


When  and  Where   Lincoln  Obtained  the  Name 

of  "Honest  Abe." 

During  the  year  that  Lincoln  was  in  Denton  Offcutt's 
store,  that  gentleman,  whose  business  was  somewhat 
widely  and  unwisely  spread  about  the  country,  ceased  to 
prosper  in  his  finances,  and  finally  failed.  The  store 
was  shut  up,  the  mill  was  closed,  and  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  out  of  business.  The  year  had  been  one  of  great 
advance,  in  many  respects.  He  had  made  new  and  val- 
uable acquaintances,  read  many  books,  mastered  the 
grammar  of  his  own  tongue,   won  multitudes  of  friends, 


EARLY    LIFE.  39 

and  became  ready  for  a  step  still  further  in  advance. 
Those  who  could  appreciate  brains  respected  him,  and 
those  whose  ideas  of  a  man  related  to  his  muscles  were 
devoted  to  him.  It  was  while  he  was  performing  the 
work  of  the  store  that  he  acquired  the  soubriquet  "  Hon- 
est Abe." — a  characterization  that  he  never  dishonored, 
and  an  abbreviation  that  he  never  outgrew.  He  was 
judge,  arbitrator,  referee,  umpire,  authority,  in  all  dis- 
putes, games  and  matches  of  man-flesh  and  horse-flesh; 
a  pacificator  in  all  quarrels;  everybody's  friend;  the  best 
natured,  the  most  sensible,  the  best  informed,  the  most 
modest  and  unassuming,  the  kindest,  gentlest,  roughest, 
strongest,  best  young  fellow  in  all  New  Salem  and  the 
region  round  about. 


:o: 


Lincoln's  Mechanical  Ingenuity. 

That  he  had  enough  mechanical  genius  to  make  him  a 
good  mechanic,  there  is  no  doubt.  With  such  rude 
tools  as  were  at  his  command  he  had  made  cabins  and 
flat-boats;  and  after  his  mind  had  become  absorbed  in 
public  and  professional  affairs  he  often  recurred  to  his 
mechanical  dreams  for  amusement.  One  of  his  dreams 
took  form,  and  he  endeavored  to  make  a  practical  mat- 
ter of  it.  He  had  had  experience  in  the  early  naviga- 
tion of  the  Western  rivers.  One  of  the  most  serious 
hindrances  to  this  navigation  was  low  water,  and  the 
lodgment  of  the  various  craft  on  the  shifting  shoals  and 
bars  with  which  these  rivers  abound.  He  undertook  to 
contrive  an  apparatus  which,  folded  to  the  hull  of  the 
boat  like  a  bellows,  might  be  inflated  on  occasion,  and, 
by  its  levity,  lift  it  over  any  obstruction    upon    which    it 


40  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

might  rest.  On  this  contrivance,  illustrated  by  a  model 
whittled  out  by  himself,  and  now  preserved  in  the  Patent 
Office  at  Washington,  he  secured  letters  patent;  but  it  is 
certain  that  the  navigation  of  the  Western  rivers  was 
not  revolutionized  by  it. 


A  Remarkable  Story — "'Honest  Abe"  as   Post. 

master. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  appointed  Postmaster  by  President 
Jackson.  The  office  was  too  insignificant  to  be  consider- 
ed politically,  and  it  was  given  to  the  young  man  because 
everybody  liked  him,  and  because  he  was  the  only  man 
willing  to  take  it  who  could  make  out  the  returns.  He 
was  exceedingly  pleased  with  the  appointment,  because 
it  gave  him  a  chance  to  read  every  newspaper  that  was 
taken  in  the  vicinity.  He  had  never  been  able  to  get 
half  the  newspapers  he  wanted  before,  and  the  office 
gave  him  the  prospect  of  a  constant  feast.  Not  wishing 
to  be  tied  to  the  office,  as  it  yielded  him  no  revenue  that 
would  reward  him  for  the  confinement,  he  made  a  Post- 
office  of  his  hat.  Whenever  he  went  out  the  letters  were 
placed  in  his  hat.  When  an  anxious  looker  for  a  letter 
found  the  Postmaster,  he  had  found  his  office;  and  the 
public  officer,  taking  off  his  hat,  looked  over  his  mail 
wherever  the  public  might  find  him.  He  kept  the  office 
until  it  was  discontinued,  or  removed  to  Petersburg. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  exhibitions  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
rigid  honesty  occurred  in  connection  with  the  settlement 
of  his  accounts  with  the  Post-office  Department,  several 
vears  afterward. 


EARLY    LIFE.  4 1 

It  was  after  he  had  become  a  lawyer,  and  had  been  a 
legislator.  He  had  passed  through  a  period  of  great 
poverty,  had  acquired  his  education  in  the  law  in  the 
midst  of  many  perplexities,  inconviencies,  and  hardships, 
and  had  met  with  temptations,  such  as  few  men  could 
resist,  to  make  a  temporary  use  of  any  money  he  might 
have  in  his  hands.  One  day,  seated  in  the  law  office  of 
his  partner,  the  agent  of  the  Post-office  Department  en- 
tered, and  inquired  if  Abraham  Lincoln  was  within.  Mr. 
Lincoln  responded  to  his  name,  and  was  informed  that 
the  agent  had  called  to  collect  a  balance  due  the  Depart- 
ment since  the  discontinuance  of  the  New  Salem  office. 
A  shade  of  perplexity  passed  over  Mr.  Lincoln's  face, 
which  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  friends  present.  One 
of  them  said  at  once: 

"Lincoln  if  you  are  in  want  of  money,  let  us  help 
you." 

He  made  no  reply,  but  suddenly  rose,  and  pulled  out 
from  a  pile  of  books  a  little  old  trunk,  and,  returning  to 
the  table,  asked  the  agent  how  much  the  amount  of  his 
debt  was.  The  sum  was  named,  and  then  Mr.  Lincoln 
opened  the  trunk,  pulled  out  a  little  package  of  coin 
wrapped  in  a  cotton  rag,  and  counted  out  the  exact  sum, 
amounting  to  something  more  than  seventeen  dollars. 
After  the  agent  had  left  the  room,  he  remarked  quietly 
that  he  had  never  used  any  man's  money  but  his  own. 
Although  this  sum  had  been  in  his  hands  during  all  these 
years,  he  had  never  regarded  it  as  available,  even  for 
any  temporary  use  of  his  own. 

:o: 


42  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

How  Lincoln  Piloted  a  Flat.  Boat  Over  a  Mill- 
Dam. 

Governor  Yates,  of  Illinois,  in  a  speech  at  Springfield, 
quoted  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  early  friends — W.  T.  Greene 
— as  having  said  that  the  first  time  he  ever  saw  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, he  was  in  the  Sangamon  River  with  his  trousers 
rolled  up  five  feet,  more  or  less,  trying  to  pilot  a  flat- 
boat  over  a  mill-dam.  The  boat  was  so  full  of  water 
that  it  was  hard  to  manage.  Lincoln  got  the  prow  over, 
and  then,  instead  of  waiting  to  bail  the  water  out,  bored 
a  hole  through  the  projecting  part  and  let  it  run  out;  af- 
fording a  forcible  illustration  of  the  ready  ingenuity  of  the 
future  President  in  the  quick  invention  of  moral  ex- 
pedients. 

:o: 

Splitting  Rails  and  Studying  Mathemetics-Sim- 
mons,  Lincoln  &  Company. 

In  the  year  1855  or  '56,  George  B.  Lincoln,  Esq.,  of 
Brooklyn,  was  traveling  through  the  West  in  connection 
with  a  large  New  York  dry-goods  establishment.  He 
found  himself  one  night  in  a  town  on  the  Illinois  River, 
by  the  name  of  Naples.  The  only  tavern  of  the  place 
had  evidently  been  constructed  with  reference  to  ^busi- 
ness  on  a  small  scale.  Poor  as  the  prospect  seemed,  Mr. 
Lincoln  had  no   alternative    but    to   put  up  at  the  place. 

The  supper-room  was  also  used  as  a  lodging-room. 
Mr.  L.  told  his  host  that  he  thought  he  would  "go  to 
bed." 

"Bed!"  echoed  the  landlord;  "there  is  no  bed  for  you 
in  this  house,  unless  you  sleep  with  that  man  yonder. 
He  has  the  only  one  we  have  to  spare." 


EARLY    LIFE.  43 

"Well,"  returned   Mr.    Lincoln,     "the    gentleman  has 
possession,  and  perhaps  would  not  like  a  bedfellow." 
Upon  this  a  grizzly  head  appeared  out  of  the   pillows, 

and  said: 

"What  is  your  name?" 

"They  call  me  Lincoln  at  home,"  was  the  reply. 

"Lincoln!"  repeated  the  stranger;  "any  connection  of 
our  Illinois  Abraham?" 

"No,"  replied  Mr.  L.,  "I  fear  not." 

"Well,"  said  the  old  gentleman,  "I  will  let  any  man 
by  the  name  of  'Lincoln'  sleep  with  me,  just  for  the  sake 
of  the  name.     You  have  heard  of  Abe?"  he  inquired. 

"Oh,  yes,  very  often,"  replied  Mr.  Lincoln.  "No 
man  could  travel  far  in  this  State  without  hearing  of  him, 
and  I  would  be  very  glad  to  claim  connection,  if  I  could 

do  so  honestly." 

"Well,"  said  the  old  gentleman,    "my    name    is    Sim- 
mons.     'Abe'  and  I  used  to  live  and  work  together  when 
we  were  young  men.      Many  a  job   of  wood-cutting   and 
rail-splitting  have  I  done    up    with    him.      Abe    Lincoln 
was  the  likeliest  boy  in  God's  world.      He  would  work  all 
day  as  hard  as  any  of  us— and  study  by  fire-light   in  the 
log  house  half  the  night;  and  in  this  way  he   made  him- 
self a  thorough,  practical  surveyor.      Once,   during  those 
days,  I  was  in  the  upper  part  of  the   State,    and    I    met 
General  Ewing,  whom  President  Jackson  had  sent  to  the 
Northwest  to  make  surveys.      I  told  him  about  Abe  Lin- 
coln, what  a  student  he  was,  and  that  I  wanted  he  should 
give  him  a  job.      He  looked  over  his  memorandum,  and, 
pulling  out  a  paper,  said: 

"  'There  is county    must  be  surveyed;  if   your 

friend  can  do  the  work  properly,  I  shall  be  glad  to  have 


44  LIOCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

him  undertake  it — the  compensation  will  be  six  hundred 
dollars.' 

"Pleased  as  I  could  be,  I  hastened  to  Abe,  after  I  got 
home,  with  an  account  of  what  I  had  secured  for  him. 
He  was  sitting  before  the  fire  in  the  log  cabin  when  I 
told  him;  and  what  do  you  think  was  his  answer?  When 
I  finished,  he  looked  up  very  quietly,  and  said: 

"  'Mr.  Simmons,  I  thank  you  very  sincerely  for  your 
kindness,  but  I  don't  think  I  will  undertake  the  job.' 

"  'In  the  name  of  wonder,'  said  I,  'why?  Six 
hundred  dollars  does  not  grow  upon  every  bush  out  here 
in  Illinois.' 

"  'I  know  that,'  said  Abe,  'and  I  need  the  money  bad 
enough,  Simmons,  as  you  know;  but  I  have  never  been 
under  obligation  to  a  Democratic  administration,  and  I 
never  intend  to  be  so  long  as  I  can  get  my  living  another 
way.  General  Ewing  must  find  another  man  to  do  his 
work.'  " 

Mr.  Carpenter  related  this  story  to  the  President  one 
day,  and  asked  him  if  it  were  true. 

"Pollard  Simmons!"  said  Lincoln,  "well  do  I  remem- 
ber him.  It  is  correct  about  our  working  together,  but 
the  old  man  must  have  stretched  the  facts  somewhat 
about  the  survey  of  the  county.  I  think  I  should  have 
been  very  glad  of  the  job  at  that  time,  no  matter  what 
administration  was  in  power. " 

Notwithstanding  this,  however,  Mr.  Carpenter  was  in- 
clined to  believe  Mr.  Simmons  was  not  far  out  of  the 
way  and  thought  this  seemed  very  characteristic  of  what 
Abraham  Lincoln  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  at 
twenty-three  or  twenty-five  years  of  age. 

:o: 


EARLY    LIFE.  45 

How  Lincoln  Became  a  Captain. 

In  the  threatening  aspect  of  affairs  at  the  time  of  the 
Black  Hawk  War,  Governor  Reynolds  issued  a  call  for 
volunteers.  au<  among  the  companies  that  immediately 
responded  was  one  from  Menard  County,  Illinois.  Many 
of  the  volunteers  were  from  New  Salem  and  Clarey's 
Grove,  and  Lincoln,  being  out  of  business,  was  first  to 
enlist.  The  company  being  full,  they  held  a  meeting  at 
Richland  for  the  election  of  officers.  Lincoln  had  won 
many  hearts  and  they  told  him  that  he  must  be  their 
captain.  It  was  an  office  that  he  did  not  aspire  to,  and 
one  for  which  he  felt  that  he  had  no  special  fitness;  but 
he  consented  to  be  a  candidate.  There  was  but  one 
other  candidate  for  the  office  (a  Mr.  Kirkpatrick),  and  he 
was  one  of  the  most  influential  men  in  the  county.  Prev- 
iously, Kirkpatrick  had  been  an  employer  of  Lincoln, 
and  was  so  overbearing  in  his  treatment  of  the  young 
man  that  the  latter  left  him. 

The  simple  mode  of  electing  their  captain,  adopted  by 
the  company,  was  by  placing  the  candidates  apart,  and 
telling  the  men  to  go  and  stand  with  the  one  they  preferred. 
Lincoln  and  his  competitor  took  their  positions,  and  then 
the  word  was  given.  At  least  three  out  of  every  four 
went  to  Lincoln  at  once.  When  it  was  seen  by  those 
who  had  ranged  themselves  with  the  other  candidate 
that  Lincoln  was  the  choice  of  the  majority  of  the  com- 
pany, they  left  their  places,  one  by  one,  and  came  over 
to  the  successful  side,  until  Lincoln's  opponent  in  the 
friendly  strife  was  left  standing  almost  alone. 

"I  felt  badly  to  see  him  cut  so,"  says  a  witness  of  the 
scene. 


46  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Here  was  an  opportunity  for  revenge.  The  humble 
laborer  was  his  employer's  captain,  but  the  opportunity 
was  never  improved.  Mr.  Lincoln  frequently  confessed 
that  no  subsequent  success  of  his  life  had  given  him  half 
the  satisfaction  that  this  election  did.  He  had  acheived 
public  recognition;  and  to  one  so  humbly  bred,  the  dis- 
tinction was  inexpressibly  delightful. 


:o:- 


A   Humorous    Speech  —  Lincoln    in    the  Black 

Hawk  War. 

The  friends  of  General  Cass,  when  that  gentleman  was 
a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  endeavored  to  endow 
him  with  a  military  reputation.  Mr.  Lincoln,  at  that 
time  a  representative  in  Congress,  delivered  a  speech  be- 
fore the  House,  which  in  its  allusions  to  Mr.  Cass,  was 
exquisitely  sarcastic  and  irresistably1  humorous: 

"By  the  way,  Mr.  Speaker,"-  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "do 
you  know  I  am  a  military  hero?  "Yes,  sir,  in  the  days 
of  the  Black  Hawh  War,  I  fought,  bled  and  came  away. 
Speaking  of  General  Cass'  career  reminds  me  of  my  own. 
I  was  not  at  Stillman's  Defeat,  but  I  was  about  as  near 
it  as  Cass  to  Hull's  surrender;  and  like  him  I  saw  the 
place  very  soon  afterward.  It  is  quite  certain  I  did  not 
break  my  sword,  for  I  had  none  to  break,  but  I  bent  my 
musket  pretty  badly  on  one  occasion.  *  *  *  *  If 
General  Cass  went  in  advance  of  me  in  picking  whortle- 
berries, I  guess  I  surpassed  him  in  charges  upon  the 
wild  onion.  If  he  saw  any  live;  fighting  Indians  ,  it  is 
more  than  I  did,  but  I  had  a  good  many  bloody  strugles 
with  the  musquitoes,  and  although  I  never  fainted  from 
loss  of  blood,  I  can  truly  say  I  was  often  very   hungry." 


EARLY    LIEE.  47 

Mr.  Lincoln  concluded  by  saying  that  if  he  ever  turn- 
ed Democrat  and  should  run  for  the  Presidency,  he  hoped 
they  would  not  make  fun  of  him  by  attempting  to  make 
him  a  military  hero! 


-:o:- 


Elected  to  the   Legislature. 

In  1834,  Lincoln  was  a  candidate  for  the  legislature, 
and  was  elected  by  the  highest  vote  cast  for  any  candi- 
date. Major  John  T.  Stuart,  an  officer  in  the  Black 
Hawk  War,  and  whose  acquaintance  Lincoln  made  at 
Beardstown,  was  also  elected.  Major  Stuart  had  al- 
ready conceived  the  highest  opinion  of  the  young  man, 
and  seeing  much  of  him  during  the  canvass  for  the  elec- 
tion, privately  advised  him  to  study  law.  Stuart  was  him- 
self engaged  in  a  large  and  lucrative  practice  at  Spring- 
field. 

Lincoln  said  he  was  poor — that  he  had  no  money  to 
buy  books,  or  to  live  where  books  might  be  borrowed  or 
used.  Major  Stuart  offered  to  lend  him  all  he  needed, 
and  he  decided  to  take  the  kind  lawyer's  advice,  and  ac- 
cept his  offer.  At  the  close  of  the  canvass  which  re- 
sulted in  his  election,  he  walked  to  Springfield,  borrowed 
"  a  load"  of  books  of  Stuart,  and  took  them  home  with 
him  to  New  Salem. 

Here  he  began  the  study  of  law  in  good  earnest,  though 
with  no  preceptor.  He  studied  while  he  had  bread,  and 
then  started  out  on  a  surveying  tour  to  win  the  money 
that  would  buy  more. 

One  who  remembers  his  habits  during  this  period  says 
that  he  went,  day  after  day,  for  weeks,  and  sat  under  an 
oak    tree    near  New    Salem  and   read,    moving  around 


EARLY  LIFE.  49 

to  keep  in  the  shade  as  the  sun  moved.  He  was  so  much 
absorbed  that  some  people  thought  and  said  that  he  was 
crazy. 

Not  unfrequently  he  met  and  passed  his  best  friends 
without  noticing  them .  The  truth  was  that  he  had  found 
the  pursuit  of  his  life,  and  had  become  very  much  in 
earnest. 

During  Lincoln's  campaign  he  possessed  and  rode  a 
horse,  to  procure  which  he  had  quite  likely  sold  his  com- 
pass and  chain,  for,  as  soon  as  the  canvass  had  closed, 
he  sold  the  horse  and  bought  these  instruments  indispen- 
sable to  him  in  the  only  pursuit  by  which  he  could  make 
his  living. 

When  the  time  for  the  assembling  of  the  legislature 
had  arrived  Lincoln  dropped  his  law  books,  shouldered 
his  pack,  and,  on  foot,  trudged  to  Vandalia,  then  the 
capital  of  the  State,  about  a  hundred  miles,  to  make  his 
entrance  into  public  life. 

.o: 


j* 


"The  Long  Nine.' 

The  Sangamon  County  delegation  to  the  Illinois  Leg- 
islature, in  1834,  of  which  Lincoln  was  a  member,  con- 
sisting of  nine  representatives,  was  so  remarkable  for  the 
physical  altitude  of  its  members  that  they  were  known 
as  "The  Long  Nine."  Not  a  member  of  the  number  was 
less  than  six  feet  high,  and  Lincoln  was  the  tallest  of 
the  nine,  as  he  was  the  leading  man  intellectually  in  and 
out  of  the  House. 

Among  those  who  composed  the  House  were  General 
John  A.  McClernand,  afterwards  a  member  of  Congress; 
Jesse  K.  DuBois,  afterwards  Auditor  of  the    State;  Jas. 


50  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

Semple,  afterwards  twice  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  subsequently  United  States  Sena- 
tor; Robert  Smith,  afterwards  member  of  Congress;  John 
Hogan,  afterwards  a  member  of  Congress  from  St.  Louis; 
General  James  Shields,  afterwards  United  States  Sena- 
tor (who  died  recently);  John  Dement,  who  has  since 
been  Treasurer  of  the  State;  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  whose 
subsequent  career  is  familiar  to  all;  Newton  Cloud,  Pres- 
ident of  the  convention  which  framed  the  present  State 
Constitution  of  Illinois;  John  J.  Hardin,  who  fell  at  Bu- 
ena  Vista;  John  Moore,  afterwards  Lieutenant  Governor 
of  the  State;  William  A.  Richardson,  subsequently  Uni- 
ted States  Senator,  and  William  McMurtry,  who  has 
since  been  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  State. 

This  list  does  not  embrace  all  who  had  then,  or  who 
have  since  been  distinguished,  but  it  is  large  enough  to 
show  that  Lincoln  was,  during  the  term  of  this  legisla- 
ture, thrown  into  association,  and  often  into  antagon- 
ism, with  the  brightest  men  of  the  new  State. 


:o:- 


A  Joke  on  Lincoln's  Big  Feet. 

He  had  walked  his  hundred  miles  to  Vandalia;  in 
1836,  as  he  did  in  1834,  and  when  the  session  closed  he 
walked  home  again.  A  gentleman  in  Menard  County 
remembers  meeting  him  and  a  detachment  of  "The  Long 
Nine  "  on  their  way  home.  They  were  all  mounted  ex- 
cept Lincoln,  who  had  thus  far  kept  up  with  them  on 
foot. 

If  he  had  money  he  was  hoarding  it  for  more  import- 
ant purposes  than  that  of  saving  leg- weariness  and  leath- 


EARLY  LIFE.  5  I 

er.     The  weather  was  raw,  and  Lincoln's    clothing  was 
none  of  the  warmest. 

Complaining  of  being  cold  to  one  of  his  companions, 
this  irreverent  member  of  ' '  The  Long  Nine  "  told  his  fu- 
ture President  that  it  was  no  wonder  he  was  cold — 
"there  was  so  much  of  him  on  the  ground."  None  of 
the  party  appreciated  this  homely  joke  at  the  expense  of 
his  feet  (they  were  doubtless  able  to  bear  it)  more  thor- 
oughly than  Lincoln  himself. 

We  can  imagine  the  cross-fires  of  wit  and  humor  by 
which  the  way  was  enlivened  during  this  cold  and  tedi- 
ous journey.  The  scene  was  certainly  a  rude  one,  and 
seems  more  like  a  dream  than  a  reality,  when  we  remem- 
ber that  it  occurred  not  very  many  years  ago,  in  a  State 
which  contains  hardly  less  than  three  millions  of  peo- 
ple and  seven  thousand  and  six  hundred  miles  of  rail- 
way. 

:o: 

Lincoln's  Marriage — Interesting  Letters. 

In  1842,  in  his  thirty-third  year,  Mr.  Lincoln  married 
Miss  Mary  Todd,  a  daughter  of  Hon.  Robert  S.  Todd, 
of  Lexington,  Kentucky.  The  marriage  took  place  in 
Springfield,  where  the  lady  had  for  several  years  resid- 
ed, on  the  fourth  of  November  of  the  year  mentioned. 
It  is  probable  that  he  married  as  early  as  the  circum- 
stances of  his  life  permitted,  for  he  had  always  loved  the 
society  of  women,  and  possessed  a  nature  that  took  pro- 
found delight  in  intimate  female  companionship. 

A  letter  written  on  the  eighteenth  of  May  following 
his  marriage,  to  J.  F.  Speed,  Esq.,  of  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky,   an  early  and  a  life-long   personal    friend,    gives  a 

LIBRARY 
'  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


52  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

pleasant  glimpse  of  his  domestic  arrangements  at  this 
time.  "  We  are  not  keeping  house,"  Mr.  Lincoln  says 
in  this  letter,  ,!-but  boarding  at  the  Globe  Tavern,  which 
is  very  well  kept  by  a  widow  lady  of  the  name  of  Beck. 
Our  rooms  are  the  same  Dr.  Wallace  occupied  there,  and 
boarding  only  costs  four  dollars  a  week.  *  *  *  I 
most  heartily  wish  you  and  your  Fanny  will  not  fail  to 
come.  Just  let  us  know  the  time,  a  week  in  advance, 
and  we  will  have  a  room  prepared  for  you,  and  we'll  all 
be  merry  together  for  awhile." 

He  seems  to  have  been  in  excellent  spirits,  and  to  have 
been  very  hearty  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  new  relation. 
The  private  letters  of  Mr.  Lincoln  were  charmingly  nat- 
ural and  sincere.  His  personal  friendships  were  the  sweet- 
est sources  of  his  happiness. 

To  a  particular  friend,    he    wrote    February  25,  1842: 

"  Yours  of  the  16th,  announcing  that  Miss and  you 

'  are  no  longer  twain,  but  one  flesh, '  reached  me  this 
morning.  I  have  no  way  of  telling  you  how  much  hap- 
piness I  wish  you  both,  though  I  believe  you  both  can 
conceive  it.  I  feel  somewhat  jealous  of  both  of  you  now, 
for  you  will  be  so  exclusively  concerned  for  one  another 
that  I  shall  be  forgotten  entirely.     My  acquaintance  with 

Miss (I  call  her  thus  lest    you    should    think    I    am 

speaking  of  your  mother),  was  too  short  for  me  to 
reasonably  hope  to  long  be  remembered  by  her;  and  still 
I  am  sure  I  shall  not  forget  her  soon.  Try  if  you  cannot 
remind  her  of  that  debt  she  owes  me,  and  be  sure  you  do 
not  interfere  to  prevent  her  paying  it. 

' '  I  regret  to  learn  that  you  have  resolved  not  to  return 
to  Illinois.  I  shall  be  very  lonesome  without  you.  How 
miserably  things  seem  to  be  arranged  in    this   world!     If 


mwm 
nBHH    III 


.  ^miMm 


54  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

we  have  no  friends  we  have  no  pleasure  ;and  if  we  have 
them,  we  are  sure  to  lose  them,  and  be  doubly  pained  by 
the  loss. 

"  I  did  hope  she  and  you  would  make  your  home  here, 
yet  I  own  I  have  no  right  to  insist.  You  owe  obligations 
to  her  ten  thousand  times  more  sacred  than  any  you  can 
owe  to  others,  and  in  that  light  let  them  be  respected 
and  observed.  It  is  natural  that  she  should  desire 
to  remain  with  her  relations  and  friends.  As  to  friends, 
she  should  not  need  them  anywhere — she  would  have 
them  in  abundance  here.      Give    my  kind  regards  to  Mr. 

and  his  family,  particularly  to  Miss  E.   Also  to  your 

mother,  brothers  and  sisters.      Ask  little  E.  D if  she 

will  ride  to  town  with  me  if  I  come   there    again.      And, 

finally,  give a  double  reciprocation  of    all    the    love 

she  sent  me.  Write  me  often,  and  believe  me,  yours 
forever,  Lincoln. 


:o:- 


Lincoln's  3Iother — How  He  Loved  Her. 

"A  great  man,"  says  J.  G.  Holland,  "never  drew  his 
infant  life  from  a  purer  or  more  womanly  bosom  than  her 
own;  and  Mr.  Lincoln  always  looked  back  to  her  with 
unspeakable  affection.  Long  after  her  sensitive  heart  and 
weary  hands  had  crumbled  into  dust,  and  had  climbed  to 
life  again  in  forest  flowers,  he  said  to  a  friend,  with  tears 
in  his  eyes:  '  All  that  I  am,  or  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to  my 
angel  mother — blessings  on  her  memory!  '  '  She  was  five 
feet,  five  inches  high,  a  slender,  pale,  sad  and  sensitive 
woman,  with  much  in  her  nature  that  was  truly  heroic, 
and  much  that  shrank  from  the  rude'  life  around 
her. 


EARLY  LIFE.  55 

Her  death  occurred  in  1818,  scarely  two  years  after 
her  removal  from  Kentucky  to  Indiana,  and  when  Abra- 
ham was  in  his  tenth  year.  They  laid  her  to  rest  under 
the  trees  near  their  cabin  home,  and,  sitting  on  her 
grave,  the  little  boy  wept  his  irreparable  loss. 


■:o:- 


Gen.  Linder's  Early   Recollections — Amusing 

Stories. 

I  did  not  travel,  says  Gen.  Linder,  on  the  circuit  in 
1835,  on  account  of  my  health  and  the  health  of  my  wife, 
but  attended  court  at  Charleston  that  fall,  held  by  Judge 
Grant,  who  had  exchanged  circuits  with  our  judge,  Jus- 
tin Harlan. 

It  was  here  I  first  met  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Spring- 
field, at  that  time  a  very  retiring  and  modest  young  man, 
dressed  in  a  plain  suit  of  mixed  jeans.  He  did  not  make 
any  marked  impression  upon  me,  or  any  other  member  of 
the  bar.  He  was  on  a  visit  to  his  relations  in  Coles, 
where  his  father  and  stepmother  lived,  and  some  of  her 
children. 

Lincoln  put  up  at  the  hotel,  and  here  was  where  I  saw 
him.  Whether  he  was  reading  law  at  this  time  I  cannot 
say.  Certain  it  is,  he  had  been  admitted  to  the  bar,  al- 
though he  had  some  celebrity,  having  been  a  captain  in 
the  Blackhawk  campaign,  and  served  a  term  in  the  Illi- 
nois Legislature;  but  if  he  won  any  fame  at  that  season 
I  have  never  heard  of  it.  He  had  been  one  of  the  repre- 
sentatives from  Sangamon. 

If  Lincoln  at  this  time  felt  the  divine  afflatus  of  great- 
ness stir  within  him  I  have  never  heard  of  it.  It  was 
rather  common  with  us  then  in  the  West  to  suppose  that 


$6  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

there  was  no  Presidential  timber  growing  in  the  North- 
west, yet,  he  doubtless  had  at  that  time  the  stuff  out  of 
which  to  make  half  a  dozen  Presidents. 

I  had  known  his  relatives  in  Kentucky,  and  he  asked 
me  about  them.  His  uncle,  Mordecai  Lincoln,  I  had 
known  from  my  boyhood,  and  he  was  naturally  a  man  of 
considerable  genius;  he  was  a  man  of  great  drollery,  and 
it  would  almost  make  you  laugh  to  look  at  him.  I  never 
saw  but  one  other  man  whose  quiet,  droll  look  excited  in 
me  the  same  disposition  to  laugh,  and  that  was  Artemus 
Ward. 

He  was  quite  a  story-teller,  and  in  this  Abe  resembled 
his  Uncle  Mord,  as  we  called  him.  He  was  an  honest 
man,  as  tender-hearted  as  a  woman,  and  to  the  last  de- 
gree charitable  and  benevolent. 

No  one  ever  took  offense  at  Uncle  Mord's  stories — not 
even  the  ladies.  I  heard  him  once  tell  a  bevy  of  fash- 
ionable girls  that  he  knew  a  very  large  woman  who  had  a 
husband  so  small  that  in  the  night  she  often  mistook  him 
for  the  baby,  and  that  upon  one  occasion  she  took  him 
up  and  was  singing  to  him  a  soothing  lullaby,  when  he 
awoke  and  told  her  that  she  was  mistaken,  that  the  baby 
was  on  the  other  side  of  the  bed. 

Lincoln  had  a  very  high  opinion  of  his  uncle,  and  on 
one  occasion  he  said  to  me:  "  Linder,  I  have  often  said 
that  Uncle  Mord  run  off  with  the  talents  of  the  fam- 
ily." 

Old  Mord,  as  we  sometimes  called  him,  had  been  in 
his  younger  days  a  very  stout  man,  and  was  quite  fond  of 
playing  a  game  of  fisticuffs  with  any  one  who  was  noted 
as  a  champion. 

He  told  a  parcel  of  us  once  of  a  pitched  battle  that  he 


EARLY  LIFE.  J  " 

had  fought  on  the  side  of  a  hill  or  ridge:  that  at  the  bot- 

was  a  rut  or  canal,  which  had  been  cut  ou: 
the  freshets.      He  said  they  soon  clinched,  and  he  threw 

-  man  and  fell  on  top  of  him. 

He  said  he  alv  ought  he  had  the  bes: 

.d  for  measuring  distances,  and  having  measured  the 
distance  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  he  concluded  that  by 
roll     -       er  and  over  till  they  came  to  the  bottom  his  an- 

g   nist's  .  Id  fill  it,  and  he  would  be  wedged  in 

s     :  ight  that  I  Id  whip  him  at  his  leisure.     So  he  let 

the  fellow  turn  him,  and  over  and  over  they  went,  when 
about  the   twentieth    revolution   brought    Uncle    Word's 
ntact    with    the  rut,  **  and,"  said  he.   '* before 
fire  could  scorch  a  feather,  I  cried  out  in  stentorian  vc 
•  Take  him  off! '  " 


"  Clary's  Grove    Boys" — A  Wrestling  Match. 

There  lived  at  the  time  young  Lincoln  resided  at  N 
Salem,  Illinois,  in  and  around  the  village,  a  band  of  rol- 
licking fellows,    or   more   properly,    :  ing  rowdi 
known  as  the  *•  CI. .            rove  F            The  special  tie  that 
united  them  was  physical  courage  and   prov. ;~~      These 
fellows,  although  they  embraced  in  their  number   many 
men  who  have  since  become  respectable  and  influential, 
e  wild  and   rough   beyond   toleration  in  any  commu- 
not  made  up  like  that  which  produced  them.     They 
pretended  to  be         g    lators,"  and  were  the  terror  of  all 
i  did  not  acknowledge  their  rule;  and  their  mode  of 
.ring  allegiance                  egging             man  who  failed 
to  acknowledge  it. 

They  took  it  upon  then>  the  mettle  of  i 


58  LINCOLN   SSTORIES  AND    SPEECHES. 

ery  new   comer,    and    to    learn    the    sort  of  stuff  he  was 
made  of. 

Some  of  their  number  was  appointed  to  fight,  wrestle, 
or  run  a  foot-race  with  each  incoming  stranger.  Of 
course  Abraham  Lincoln  was  obliged  to  pass  the  or- 
deal. 

Perceiving  that  he  was  a  man  who  would  not  easily  be 
floored;  they  selected  their  champion,  Jack  Armstrong, 
and  imposed  upon  him  the  task  of  laying  Lincoln  upon 
his  back. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  Lincoln  was  an  unwilling 
party  to  the  sport,  for  it  was  what  he  had  always  been 
accustomed  to.  The  bout  was  entered  upon,  but  Arm- 
strong soon  discovered  that  he  had  met  more  than  his 
match. 

The  boys  were  looking  on,  and  seeing  that  their  cham- 
pion was  likely  to  get  the  worst  of  it,  did  after  the  man- 
ner of  such  irresponsible  bands.  They  gathered  around 
Lincoln,  struck  and  disabled  him,  and  then  Armstrong, 
by  "  legging  "  him,  got  him  down. 

Most  men  would  have  been  indignant,  not  to  say  furi- 
ously angry,  under  such  foul  treatment  as  this;  but  if 
Lincoin  was  either,  he  did  not  show  it.  Getting  up  in 
perfect  good  humor,  he  fell  to  laughing  over  his  discom- 
fiture, and  joking  about  it.  They  had  all  calculated  upon 
making  him  angry,  and  they  intended,  with  the  amiable 
spirit  which  characterized  the  "  Clary's  Grove  Boys,"  to 
give  him  a  terrible  drubbing.  They  were  disappointed, 
and,  in  their  admiration  of  him,  immediately  invited  him 
to  become  one  of  the  company. 

:o. 


EARLY  LIFE.  59 

Reminiscences — The  Turning  Point. 

It  was  while  young  Lincoln  was  engaged  in  the  duties 
of  Offutt's  store  that  the  turning  point  in  his  life  occurred. 
Here  he  commenced  the  study  of  English  grammar. 
There  was  not  a  text-book  to  be  obtained  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, but,  hearing  that  there  was  a  copy  of  Kirkham's 
Grammar  in  the  possession  of  a  person  seven  or  eight 
miles  distant,  he  walked  to  his  house  and  succeeded  in 
borrowing  it. 

L.  M.  Green,  a  lawyer  in  Petersburg,  Menard  County, 
says  that  every  time  he  visited  New  Salem,  at  this  period, 
Lincoln  took  him  out  upon  a  hill  and  asked  him  to  ex- 
plain some  point  in  Kirkham  that  had  given  him  trouble. 
After  having  mastered  the  book,  he  remarked  to  a  friend 
that  if  that  was  what  they  called  a  science,  he  thought  he 
could  ' '  subdue  another.  " 

Mr.  Green  says  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  talk  at  this  time 
showed  that  he  was  beginning  to  think  of  a  great  life  and 
a  great  destiny.  Lincoln  said  to  him,  on  one  occasion, 
that  all  his  family  seemed  to  have  good  sense,  but,  some- 
how, none  had  ever  become  distinguished.  He  thought 
that  perhaps  he  might  become  so.  He  had  talked,  he  said, 
with  men  who  had  the  reputation  of  being  great 
men,  but  he  could  not  see  that  they  differed  much  from 
others ! 

During  this  year  he  was  also  much  engaged  with  de- 
bating clubs,  often  walking  six  or  seven  miles  to  attend 
them.  One  of  these  clubs  held  its  meetings  at  an  old 
storehouse  in  New  Salem,  and  the  first  speech  young 
Lincoln  ever  made  was  made  there. 

He  used  to  call    the   exercise    "practicing  polemics." 


60  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

As  these  clubs  were  composed  principally  of  men  of  no  ed- 
ucation whatever,  some  of  their  "  polemics"  are  remem- 
bered as  the  most  laughable  of  farces. 

His  favorite  newspaper,  at  this  time,  was  the  Louis- 
ville Journal,  a  paper  which  he  received  regularly  by  mail, 
and  paid  for  during  a  number  of  years  when  he  had  not 
money  enough  to  dress  decently  He  liked  its  politics, 
and  was  particularly  delighted  with  its  wit  and  humor,  of 
which  he  had  the  keenest  appreciation.  When  out  of 
the  store,  he  was  always  busy  in  the  pursuit  of  knowl- 
edge. 

One  gentlemen  who  met  him  during  this  period  says 
that  the  first  time  he  saw  him  he  was  lying  on  a  trundle- 
bed  covered  with  books  and  papers,  and  rockinq  a  cradle 
with  his  foot. 

The  whole  scene,  however,  was  entirely  characteristic 
— Lincoln  reading  and  studying,  and  at  the  same  time 
helping  his  landlady  by  quieting  her  child. 

"  My  early  history, "  said  Mr.  Lincoln  to  J.  L.  Scripps, 

"is  perfectly  characterized   by   a  single   line    of  Gray's 

Elegy: 

"  The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor  '  " 

A  gentleman  who  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  well  in  early  man- 
hood says:  "Lincoln  at  this  period  had  nothing  but 
plenty  of  friends.'" 

Says  J.  G.  Holland:  "  No  man  ever  lived,  probably, 
who  was  more  a  self-made  man  than  Abraham  Lincoln. 
Not  a  circumstance  of  life  favored  the  development  which 
he  had  reached." 

After  the  customary  handshaking  on  one  occasion  at 
Washington,  several  gentlemen  came  forward  and  asked 


EARLY  LIFE.  6 1 

the  President  for  his  autograph.  One  of  them  gave  his 
name  as  "  Cruikshank."  "  That  reminds  me,"  said  Mr. 
Lincoln,  "of  what  I  used  to  be  called  when  a  young  man 
—  'Long-shanks! 

Mr.  Holland  says:  "Lincoln  was  a  religious  man.  The 
fact  may  be  stated  without  any  reservation — with  only  an 
explanation.  He  believed  in  God,  and  in  His  personal 
supervision  of  the  affairs  of  men.  He  believed  himself  to 
be  under  His  control  and  guidance.  He  believed  in  the 
power  and  ultimate  triumph  of  the  right,  through  his  be- 
lief in  God." 

Governor  Yates,  in  a  speech  at  Springfield,  before  a 
meeting  at  which  William  G.  Greene  presided,  quoted 
Mr.  Greene  as  having  said  that  the  first  time  he  ever 
saw  Lincoln  he  was  ' '  in  the  Sangamon  River,  with  his 
trowsersrolled  up  five  feet,  more  or  less,  trying  to  pilot  a 
flatboat  over  a  mill-dam.  The  boat  was  so  full  of  water 
that  it  was  hard  to  manage.  Lincoln  got  the  prow  over, 
and  then,  instead  of  waiting  to  bail  the  water  out, 
bored  a  hole  through  the  projecting  part,  and  let  it  run 
out." 

A  prominent  writer  says:  "Lincoln  was  a  childlike 
man.  No  public  man  of  modern  days  has  been  fortunate 
enough  to  carry  into  his  manhood  so  much  of  the  direct- 
ness, truthfulness  and  simplicity  of  childhood  as  distin- 
guished him.     He  was  exactly  what  he  seemed." 

Mr.  Lincoln  and  Douglas  met  for  the  first  time  when 
the  latter  was  only  23  years  of  age.  Lincoln,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  fact,  subsequently  said  that  Douglas  was  then 
« '  the  least  man  he  ever  saw. "  He  was  not  only  very  short, 
but  very  slender. 


62  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Lincoln's  mother  died  in  1 8 1 8,  scarcely  two  years  after 
her  removal  to  Indiana  from  Kentucky,  and  when  Abra- 
ham was  in  his  tenth  year.  They  laid  her  to  rest  under 
the  trees  near  the  cabin,  and,  sitting  on  her  grave,  the  lit- 
tle boy  wept  his  irreparable  loss. 

The  Blackhawk  war  was  not  a  very  remarkable  affair. 
It  made  no  military  reputations,  but  it  was  noteworthy  in 
the  single  fact  that  the  two  simplest,  homliest  and  truest 
men  engaged  in  it  afterwards  became  Presidents  of  the 
United  States,  viz:  General  (then  Colonel)  Zachary  Tay- 
lor, and  then  Abraham  Lincoln.  Mr.  Lincoln  never  spoke 
of  it  as  anything  more  than  an  interesting  episode  in  his 
life,  except  upon  one  occasion  when  he  used  it  as  an  in- 
strument for  turning  the  military  pretensions  of  another 
into  ridicule. 

:o: 

How  Lincoln  Treated  His  Early  Friend,  Dennis 
Hanks,  in  Washington. 

Dennis  Hanks  was  once  asked  to  visit  Washington  to 
secure  the  pardon  of  certain  persons  in  jail  for  partici- 
pation in  copperheadism.  Dennis  went  and  arrived  in 
Washington,  and  instead  of  going,  as  he  said,  to  a  "tav- 
ern," he  went  to  the  White  House.  There  was  a  porter 
on  guard,  and  he  asked: 

"Is  Abe  in?  " 

"  Do  you  mean  Mr.  Lincoln,"  asked  the  porter. 

"Yes:  is  he  in  there? "  and  brushing  the  porter  aside 
he  strode  into  the  room  and  said:    "  Hello,  Abe,  how  are 

you?" 

"  And  Abe  said:  "  Well,  well,"  and  just  gathered  him 
up  in  his  arms  and  talked  of  the  days  gone  by. 


EARLY  LIFE.  63 

O,  the  days  gone  by!  They  talked  of  their  boyhood 
days,  and  by  and  by  Lincoln  said: 

What  brings  you  here  all  the  way  from  Illinois?" 

And  then  Dennis  told  him  his  mission  and  Lincoln  re- 
plied: 

"  I  will  grant  it,  Dennis,  for  old  times'  sake.  I  will 
send  for  Mr.  Stanton.      It  is  his  business." 

Stanton  came  into  the  room  and  strode  up  and  down 
and  said  the  men  ought  to  be  punished  more  than  they 
were.  Mr.  Lincoln  sat  quietly  in  his  chair  and  awaited 
for  the  tempest  to  subside  and  then  quietly  said  to  Stan- 
ton he  would  like  to  have  the  papers  the  next  day. 

When  he  had  gone  Dennis  said: 

« '  Abe,  if  I  was  as  big  and  ugly  as  you  are  I  would 
take  him  over  my  knee  and  spank  him." 

Lincoln  replied:  "No,  Stanton  is  an  able  and  valuable 
man  to  this  nation,  and  I  am  glad  to  bear  his  anger  for 
the  service  he  can  give  this  nation. 


:o:- 


Judge  Ewing's  Story. 

Judge  Ewing,  at  a  Lincoln  banquet  in  Chicago,  Febru- 
ary, 1894,  speaking  on  the  "  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln, " 
said  his  first  acquaintance  with  the  war  President  was 
very  early  in  his  own  life. 

"  It  was  in  McLean  County,  Illinois;"  he  said,  "about 
1840.  My  father  was  then  a  candidate  for  the  State  Sen- 
ate, on  the  Democratic  ticket.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  stump- 
ing the  State  as  an  elector  for  William  Henry  Harrison. 
One  day  he  stopped  at  my  father's  house  and,  after  a 
friendly  discussion  of  antagonistic  party  principles,  said, 
by  way  of  a  partial  compromise:      '  You  have  got  a  lot  of 


64  LINCOLN    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

fine-looKing  boys  here,  Mr.  Ewing,  can't  you  give  me 
one  of  them  to  raise  up  for  a  good  Whig? ' 

"  '  Well,  there  is  my  youngest  son,'  said  my  father, 
pointing  to  me.  '  He  is  about  the  no-accountest  chap  of 
the  lot,  you  can  take  him.' 

Mr.  Lincoln  patted  me  on  the  chin  with  a  smile  of  ac- 
ceptance, and  from  that  day  until  I  was  grown  the  neigh- 
borhood boys  called  me  '  Whig  Ewing."  ' 


-:o:- 


Judge  Moses'  Early   Recollections  of  Lincoln. 

Judge  John  Moses,  President  of  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society,  at  a  Lincoln  celebration  in  Chicago,  February 
12,  1894,  gave  the  following  interesting  account  of  the 
early  life  of  the  war  President. 

' '  Besides  myself  there  are  at  present  living  in  Chicago 
only  two  men  who  knew  Lincoln  as  well  as  I.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln began  his  public  career  nearly  half  a  century  ago. 
The  first  time  I  saw  him  was  at  the  great  convention  at 
Peoria,  in  June,  1844,  during  the  Clay-Polk  campaign. 
Great  crowds  were  gathered  at  the  city,  and  among  them 
were  all  the  leaders  of  the  old  Whig  party.  At  that  time 
I  was  only  a  boy. 

I  can  well  remember  the  tall,  slim,  sallow-complex- 
ioned  man,  with  long,  bushy  hair,  addressing  the  crowd 
from  one  of  the  many  platforms.  The  man  was  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,    and  he  was  discussing  the  tariff  question. 

He  was  then  35  years  old,  married,  and  had  one  son, 
Robert  T.  Lincoln. 

In  1836,  Lincoln,  who  was  living  on  a  farm  in  West 
Salem,  borrowed  a  horse  and  rode  to  Springfield.  He  se- 
cured a  room  of  Mr.  Steel,  and  in  partnership  with  John 


EARLY  LIFE.  65 

T.  Stuart  started  a  law  office.  The  business  was  only 
partially  successful,  and  in  a  short  time  Lincoln  returned 
home  and  rented  a  room  at  the  home  of  old  '  Aunt  Su- 
san '  Johnson.  There  he  stayed  for  ten  weeks  and  stud- 
ied hard.  He  then  returned  to  Springfield,  and  previous 
to  the  Peoria  convention  was  an  elector  and  canvassed 
the  State. 

Two  years  afterwards,  in  1 846,  he  was  elected  to  Con- 
gress and  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  election  of  1848, 
when  General  Taylor  was  elected  President.  During 
Taylor's  administration  Lincoln  was  a  candidate  for  land 
commissioner  at  Washington,  but  failed  to  get  the  office. 
He  then  retired  from  politics  for  a  time  and  studied  and 
continued  to  practice  law 

Lincoln's  really  active  political  life  began  in  1854,  af- 
ter the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise.  He  went  to 
Winchester,  111. ,  where  he  made  his  first  speech  on  the 
Missouri  compromise.  At  that  time  it  was  generally  con- 
ceded that  Lincoln  ought  to  be  a  nominee  for  Senator, 
and  he  was  afterward  indorsed  as  such,  but  on  account  of 
the  refusal  of  three  Democrats  to  support  him  he  lost  the 
ballot. 

After  the  campaign  came  the  presidential  election  of 
1856.  The  Republican  party  was  then  formed  in  the 
State  by  a  conference  of  editors  at  Decatur.  A  large 
convention  was  called  at  Bloomington,  and  Lincoln  was 
the  most  conspicuous  person  there  and  seemed  to  domi- 
nate the  convention. 

Among  the  speakers  were  O.  H.  Browning,  Owen 
Lovejoy  and  Colonel  Bissell.  Lincoln  was  the  first  to 
speak,  and  at  the  convention  made  a  platform  against 
slavery.      During  this  great  speech  the  audience  became 


66  LINCOLN    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

so  excited  that  it  rose  to  its  feet  in  a  body,  and  Lincoln 
with  both  hands  raised  said:  '  We  will  not  dissolve  the 
Union,  and  they  shall  not." 


-:o:- 


Senator  Cullum's  Interesting  Reminiscences  of 

Lincoln. 

At  the  third  annual  banquet  of  the  Lincoln  Associa- 
tion of  Philadelphia,  given  February  12,  1894,  Senator 
Cullum  of  Illinois,  among  other  good  things,  gave  the  fol- 
lowing reminisceoces: 

It  was  my  fortune  to  know  Mr.  Lincoln  well.  My 
knowledge  of  him  dates  baek  in  my  own  life  to  the  time 
I  was  ten  or  twelve  years  old,  and  even  before  this  time 
I  can  remember  that  men  would  come  twenty  or  thirty 
miles  to  see  my  father  in  those  pioneer  days  to  learn 
whom  to  employ  as  a  lawyer  when  they  were  likely  to 
have  cases  in  court.  He  would  say  to  them:  "If  Judge 
Stephen  T .  Logan  is  there  employ  him ;  if  he  is  not ;  there 
is  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Lincoln  who  will  do  just 
about  as  well." 

In  my  boyhood  days  I  was  permittad  to  attend  the  ses- 
sions of  the  Circuit  Court  one  week,  twice  a  year.  The 
first  time  I  enjoyed  the  privilege  I  saw  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
the  gallant  Col.  E.  D.  Baker  engaged  in  defence  of  a  man 
charged  with  the  crime  of  murder,  That  great  trial,  es- 
pceially  the  defence  hy  those  great  lawyers,  made  an  im- 
pression on  my  mind  which  will  never  be  effaced. 

Late  in  1846,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  became  the  Whig  can- 
didate for  Congress,  I  heard  him  deliver  a  political  speech. 
The  county  in  which  my  father  and  family  resided  was  a 


EARLY  LIFE.  6j 

part  of  his  Congressional  district .  When  Mr,  Lincoln 
came  to  the  county  my  father  met  him  with  his  carriage 
and  took  him  to  all  his  appointments.  I  went  to  the 
meeting  nearest  my  home;  it  was  an  open-air  meeting  in 
a  grove-  On  being  introduced  Mr.  Lincoln  began  his 
speech  as  follows: 

"Fellow-citizens:  Ever  since  I  have  been  in  Taze- 
well county  my  old  friend  Major  Cullum  has  taken  me 
around;  he  has  heard  all  my  speeches,  and  the  only 
way  I  can  fool  the  old  Major  and  make  him  believe  I 
am  making  a  new  speech  is  by  turning  it  end  for  end 
once  in  awhile. 

"I  knew  him  at  the  bar,  both  when  I  was  a  boy  and 
afterwards  when  I  came  to  the  practice  of  the  law  in  the 
capital  of  Illinois,  his  home  then,  mine  now.  I  knew 
him  in  the  private  walks  of  life,  in  the  law  office,  in  the 
court  room,  in  the  political  campaigns  of  the  time,  and 
to  the  close  of  his  great  career.  I  knew  him  as  the  leader 
of  the  great  Republican  party,  when,  as  now,  it  was  full 
of  enthusiasm  for  liberty  and  equal  rights,  when  the  plat- 
form was,  in  substance  the  declaration  of  independence, 
and  he  was  its  champion . 

"He  believed  in  'preserving  the  jewel  of  liberty  in  the 
family  of  freedom.'  Aye,  he  believed  in  making  the 
American  people  one  great  family  of  freedom. 

"I  heard  much  of  the  great  debate  between  him  and 
Douglas,  the  greatest  political  debate  which  ever  took 
place  in  America.  I  heard  him  utter  the  memorable 
words  in  the  Republican  Convention  of  my  State,  in 
1858. 

"A  house  divided  against  itself   cannot    stand.      I  be- 


68  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

lieve  this  Government  cannot  permanently  endure  half 
slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be 
dissolved — I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall,  but  I  do  ex- 
pect it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one 
thing  or  all  the  other 

"What  words  of  wisdom!  He  could  look  through  the 
veil  between  him  and  the  future  and  see  the  end.  It  is 
said  that  before  this  great  speech  was  delivered  he  read 
it  to  friends,  and  all  of  them  but  one  advised  against  its 
delivery.  With  a  self-reliance  born  of  earnest  convic- 
tion he  said  the  time  had  come  when  these  sentiments 
should  be  uttered,  and  that,  if  he  should  go  down  be- 
cause of  their  utterances  by  him,  then  he  would  go  down 
linked  with  the  truth. 

"It  lifts  up  and  ennobles  mankind  to  hear  and  study 
brave  words  of  truth  uttered  by  great  men.  'Let  me  die 
in  the  advocacy  of  what  is  just  and  right,'  he  said 
again.  • 

"In  these  days  of  apparent  shallow  convictions  on 
many  subjects;  days  of  greed  for  wealth,  of  rushing  for 
the  mighty  dollar,  is  it  not  well  to  pause  and  think  over 
the  lives  of  great  men  of  our  own  country  and  the  world? 
We  are  now  in  the  very  shadow  of  the  death  of  a  great 
and  good  man — George  W.  Childs— just  passed  away. 
A  man  who  lived  to  do  good;  to  make  the  pathway  of 
his  fellows  smoother  and  easier;  a  great  hearted  philan- 
thropist whose  fame  is  world-wide,  and  will  endure  as 
long  as  sympathy  and  generosity  are  found  in  the  human 
heart. 

"Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  great  debater,  as  was  Douglas. 
They  often  met  in  debate.      On    one   occasion    Douglas 


EARLY  LIFE.  69 

charged  that  there  was  an  alliance  between  Lincoln  and 
the  Federal  office  holders,  and  that  he  would  deal  with 
them  as  the  Russians  did  with  the  allies  in  the  Crimean 
War,  not  stopping  to  inquire  whether  an  Englishman, 
Frenchman  or  Turk  was  hit.  Lincoln  replied,  denying 
the  alliance,  but  mildly  suggested  to  Douglas  that  the  al- 
lies took  Sebastapol. 

4  •  Lincoln  was  a  man  of  faith  in  the  right  when  the 
great  contest  between  him  and  Douglas  ended  and  the 
election  was  over.  Lincoln  had  carried  the  popular  vote 
of  the  State,  but  Douglas  secured  a  majority  of  the  Leg- 
islature. 

"When  it  was  settled  that  Douglas  had  triumphed  in 
securing  a  majority  of  the  Legislature,  I  happened  to 
meet  him  in  the  street  and  said  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  is  it  true 
that  Douglas  has  a  majority  of  the  Legislature? 

' '  He  said  '  yes.' 

"I  felt  greatly  disappointed,  and  so  expressed  myself, 
when  he  said: 

"  *  Never  mind,  my  boy,  it  will  come  all  right,'  and  in 
two  years  from  that  day  the  country  was  ablaze  with 
bonfires  all  over  the  land  celebrating  its  first  national  Re- 
publican victory  in  his  election  as  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

"  It  has  been  said  Mr.  Lincoln  never  went  to  school. 
He  never  did  very  much,  but  in  the  broad  sense  he  was 
an  educated  man.  He  was  a  student — a  thinker — he  ed- 
ucated himself,  and  mastered  any  question  which  claimed 
his  attention. 

"  In  my  belief  there  has  been  no  man  in  this  country 
possessing  greater  power  of  analyzation  than  he  did. 
Webster  and  Lincoln,  while  unlike  in  intellect,  were  two 


yo  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

of  the  greatest  men  intellectually  this  country  has  pro-^ 
duced. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  was  said  to  be  slow  and  timid  when,  as 
President  he  walked  along  the  danger  path  before  him. 
He  learned  the  truth  of  an  observation  by  Cicero,  '  that 
whoever  enters  upon  public  life  should  take  care  that  the 
question  how  far  the  measure  is  virtuous  be  not  the  sole 
consideration,  but  also  how  far  he  may  have  the  means 
of  carrying  it  into  execution. '  So  in  the  great  struggle 
for  national  life  he  sought  to  go  on  no  faster  than  he 
could  induce  the  loyal  people  to  go  with  him. 

"As  we  lookback  over  the  period  of  agitation  of  slav- 
ery and  of  the  great  Civil  War,  we  see  Lincoln  towering 
above  all  as  the  savior  of  his  country  and  as  the  liberator 
of  three  millions  of  slaves.  Lincoln  was  a  shrewd  and 
crafty  man.  After,  as  you  remember,  Vallandigham, 
of  Ohio,  was  sent  South,  through  the  Rebel  lines,  he 
got  round  on  the  Canada  border  and  finally  returned 
home  without  leave.  People  thought  his  return  would 
cause  trouble. 

"  It  is. said  that  Fernando  Wood  called  on  the  Presi- 
dent and  cautiously  inquired  if  he  had  been  informed  that 
Vallandigham  had  got  home.  Lincoln  knew  that  by 
sending  him  South  he  had  broken  his  power  for  evil,  and 
in  reply  to  Mr.  Wood  he  said: 

"  'No,  sir;  I  have  received  no  official  information  of 
that  act,  and  what  is  more,  sir,  don't  intend  to." 

"Another  illustration  of  his  great  good  nature  and 
shrewdness  is  told.  As  the  war  approached  its  close, 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  General  Sherman  were  in  consultation 
at  City  point.  One  of  the  questions  considered  was 
what  should  be  done    with   Jeff    Davis  when   captured. 


EARLY  LIFE.  7 1 

General  Sherman  inquired  if  he  should  let  him  escape. 
Mr.  Lincoln  told  him  the  story  of  the  temperance  lec- 
turer who  was  plentifully  supplied  with  lemonade.  The 
host  in  a  modest  way  inquired  if  the  least  bit  of  some- 
thing stronger  to  brace  him  up  would  be  agreeable.  The 
lecturer  answered  he  could  not  think  of  it — he  was  op- 
posed to  it  on  principal;  but,  glancing  at  the  black  bot- 
tle near  by,  he  added: 

"  'If  you  could  manage  to  put  in  a  little  drop  un- 
beknown to  me,  it  wouldn't  hurt  me  much.' 

"  'Now,  General,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  'I  am  bound  to 
oppose  the  escape  of  Jeff  Davis,  but  if  you  can  manage 
to  let  him  slip  out  unbeknown'st  like,  I  guess  it  won't 
hurt  me  much.' 

"Mr.  Lincoln  was  never  disturbed  by  little  things. 
Mr.  Chase  was  President  Lincoln's  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  As  the  time  approached  the  Presidential 
nomination,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  understood  to  be  a  candi- 
date, and  Mr.  Chase  was  a  candidate,  retaining  his  place 
in  the  Cabinet.  Being  in  Washington  for  a  time,  I  had 
a  conversation  with  Mr.  Lincoln  about  Mr.  Chase's  can- 
didacy, and  I  advised  Mr.  Lincoln  to  turn  him  out.  He 
replied: 

"  'No,  let  him  alone;  he  can  do  me  no  more  harm  in 
office  than  out.' 

"When  the  President  was  considering  Mr.  Chase  in 
connection  with  the  high  office  of  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States,  a  deputation  of  great  men  from  Ohio — 
Ohio  always  had  and  has  yet  many — came  to  Washing- 
ton to  protest  against  Mr.  Chase's  appointment,  and 
presented  some  letters  at    some    time    written    by    Mr. 


72  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Chase,,  criticising  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  read  them,  and 
with  his  usual  good  nature,  remarked: 

"  'If  Mr.  Chase  has  said  some  hard  things  about  me, 
I  in  turn  have  said  some  hard  things  about  him,  which, 
I  guess,  squares  the  account.' 

"Mr.  Chase  was  appointed. 

"He  was  an  American  in  the  highest  sense.  He  stood 
for  America,  for  liberty,  for  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, for  equality  of  rights,  and  he  journeyed  from 
his  home  to  the  National  Capital  to  obey  the  call  of  the 
people  and  guide  the  ship  of  state  through  the  portend- 
ing storm,  he  came  to  his  own  historic  city  and  in  old 
Independence  Hall  he  declared  'that  if  the  Government 
could  not  be  saved  without  giving  up  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  he  would  rather  be  assassinated  on  the 
spot  than  surrender  it.' 

"He  was  a  Republican,  as  we  are;  he  not  only  believ- 
ed in  union,  liberty  and  equality,  but  under  his  guidance 
the  policy  of  the  Government  was  established,  which  has 
been  maintained  for  more  than  thirty  years  and  never 
seriously  interfered  with  until  now,  and  which  has  given 
the  people  unexampled  prosperity. 

"Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  his  life  and  public  ut- 
terances speak  to  us  now  in  this  period  of  peril  to  busi- 
ness and  commerce.  Yes,  to  sustain  the  honor  of  our 
nation  as  a  Republic,  to  stand  fast  by  our  colors,  save 
the  people  from  poverty  and  distress,  the  nation  from 
financial  wreck,  and  its  flag  in  this  and  other  lands  from 
dishonor." 


■:o:- 


EARLY    LIFE.  73 

Baby  Foot  Prints. 

The  Rev.  Robert  Mclntyre  in  a  Lincoln  Eulogy  at  the 
Auditorium,  Chicago,  among  other  good  things,  said: 

One  day  at  the  cabin  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  spent  his 
early  years  I  was  told  this  story:  Sometime  before  he 
was  elected  President  Mr.  Lincoln  visited  some  of  his 
people  there  and  he  stood  in  the  doorway  watching  a 
summer  shower  hunted  by  a  pack  of  sunbeams,  which 
laid  the  rain  in  puddles  gleaming  in  the  yard. 

They  say  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  taking  up  a  little  girl  who 
was  kin  to  him,  carried  her  out  into  the  yard  and  dipped 
her  baby  feet  in  the  mud-puddle. 

Then,  carrying  her  into  the  cabin  he  lifted  her  and  mark- 
ed the  ceiling  with  her  feet,  leaving  marks  that  remained 
there  for  many  years.  We  are  told  that  something  of 
that  kind  happened  to  him,  by  a  power  greater  than  him- 
self that  lifted  him  up  among  the  heights  and  leaving 
those  footprints  that  will  shine  forever  in  the  animls  of 
human  endeavor.  I  do  not  like  this  theory  because  it 
takes  away   hope  from  our  youth. 

Lincoln  was  like  other  men.  He  was  not  a  miraculous 
man  in  any  sense  of  the  word.  He  had  indeed  less  of 
the  supernatural  about  him  than  any  man  in  history  and 
more  of  the  natural,  and  it  was  this  that  made  him  so 
great  and  lovable  in  the  eyes  of  the  people. 

Washington  has  been  idealized  until  we  have  forgotten 
his  real  character.  I  confess  he  is  a  nebulous  character 
to  me. 

Now  they  are  going  to  refine  and  sandpaper  and  veneer 
Lincoln  until  nothing  of  the  simple,  loving,  common- 
place soul  is  left  to  us.  We  don't  want  this.  We 
want  him  just  as  he  is. 


74  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN,    WHEN    A    YOUNG    LAWYER. 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE  STORIES. 


How  Lincoln  and  Judge  B.  Swapped    Horses. 

When  Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  lawyer  in  Illinois,  he 
and  a  certain  Judge  once  got  to  bantering  one  another 
about  trading  horses;  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  next 
morning  at  9  o'clock  they  should  make  a  trade,  the  horses 
to  be  unseen  up  to  that  hour,  and  no  backing  out,  under 
a  forfeiture  of  $25. 

At  the  hour  appointed  the  Judge  came  up,  leading  the 
sorriest  looking  specimen  of  a  horse  ever  seen  in  those 
parts.  In  a  few  minutes  Mr.  Lincoln  was  seen  approach- 
ing with  a  wooden  saw-horse  upon  his  shoulders.  Great 
were  the  shouts  and  the  laughter  of  the  crowd,  and  both 
were  greatly  increased  when  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  surveying 
the  Judge's  animal,  set  down  his  saw-horse,  and  exclaim- 
ed: "Well,  Judge,  this  is  the  first  time  I  ever  got  the 
worst  of  it  in  a  horse  trade." 


-:o:- 


A  Remarkable  Law  Suit  About  a  Colt. 

The  controversy  was  about  a  colt,  in  which  thirty- four 
witnesses  swore  that  they  had  known  the  colt  from  its 
falling,  and  it   was   the   property  of  the    plaintiff,    while 

[75]  ' 


j6  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

thirty  swore  that  they  had  known  the  colt  from  its  fall- 
ing, and  that  it  was  the  property  of  the  defendant.  It 
may  be  stated,  at  starting,  that  these  witnesses  were  all 
honest,  and  that  the  mistake  grew  out  of  the  exact  re- 
semblances which  the  two  colts  bore  to  each  other. 

One  circumstance  was  proven  by  all  the  witnesses,  or 
nearly  all  of  them,  viz:  that  the  two  claimants  of  the  colt 
agreed  to  meet  on  a  certain  day  with  the  two  mares  which 
were  respectively  claimed  to  be  the  dams  of  the  colt, 
and  permit  the  colt  to  decide  which  of  the  two  he  belong- 
ed to. 

The  meeting  occurred  according  to  agreement,  and,  as 
it  was  a  singular  case  and  excited  a  good  deal  of  popular 
interest,  there  were  probably  a  hundred  men  assembled 
on  their  horses  and  mares  from  far  and  near. 

Now,  the  colt  really  belonged  to  the  defendant  in  the 
case.  It  had  strayed  away  and  fallen  into  company  with 
the  plaintiff's  horses.  The  plaintiff's  colt  had,  at  the 
same  time,  strayed  away  and  had  not  retutned,  and  was 
not  to  be  found.  The  moment  the  two  mares  were 
brought  upon  the  ground,  the  defendant's  mare  and  the 
colt  gave  signs  of  recogoition.  The  colt  went  to  its  dam 
and  would  not  leave  her.  They  fondled  each  other;  and 
although  the  plaintiff  brought  his  mare  between  them, 
and  tried  in  various  ways  to  divert  the  colt's  attention,  the 
colt  would  not  be  separated  from  the  dam.  It  then  fol- 
lowed her  home,  a  distance  of  eight  or  ten  miles,  and 
when  within  a  mile  or  two  of  the  stables,  took  a  short 
cut  to  them  in  advance  of  its  dam.  The  plaintiff  had 
sued  to  recover  the  colt  thus  gone  back  to  his  owner. 

In  the  presentation  of  this  case  to  the  jury,  there  were 
thirty-four  witnesses  on  the  side  of  the  plaintiff,  while  the 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  77 

defendant  had,  on  his  side,  only  thirty  witnesses;  but  he 
had  on  his  side  the  colt  itself  and  its  dam — thirty-four 
men  against  thirty  men  and  two  brutes. 

Here  was  a  case  that  was  to  be  decided  by  the  pre- 
ponderance of  evidence.  All  the  witnesses  were  equally 
positive,  and  equally  credible.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  on  the 
side  of  the  defendant,  and  contended  that  the  voice  of 
nature  in  the  mare  and  colt  ought  to  outweigh  the  testi- 
mony of  a  hundred  men.  The  jury  were  all  farmers, 
and  all  illiterate  men,  and  he  took  great  pains  to  make 
them  understand  what  was  meant  by  the  "preponder- 
ance of  evidence."  He  said  that  in  a  civil  suit,  absolute 
certainty,  or  such  certainty  as  would  be  required  to  con- 
vict a  man  of  crime,  wos  not  essential.  They  must  de- 
cide the  case  according  to  the  impression  which  the  evi- 
dence had  produced  upon  their  minds,  and,  if  they  felt 
puzzled  at  all,  he  would  give  them  a  test  by  which 
they  could  bring  themselves  to  a  just  conclusion. 

"Now,"  said  he.  "it  you  were  going,  to  bet  on  this 
case,  on  which  side  would  you  be  willing  to  risk  a  picayune? 
That  side  on  which  you  would  be  willing  to  bet  a  picay- 
nue  is  the  side  on  which  rests  the  preponderance  of  evi- 
deuce  in  your  minds.  It  is  possible  that  you  may  not  be 
right,  but  that  is  not  the  question.  The  question  is  as 
to  where  the  preponderance  of  evidence  lies,  and  you 
can  judge  exactly  where  it  lies  in  your  minds  by  de- 
ciding as  to  which  side  you  would    be    willing    to  bet 


on. 


The  jury  understood  this.  There  was  no  mystifica- 
tion about  it.  They  had  got  hold  of  a  test  by  which  thej 
could  render  an  intelligent  verdict.  Mr.  Lincoln  saw 
into  their  minds,   aud   knew  exactly  what   they  needed; 


78  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

and  the  moment  they  received  it  he  knew  his  case  was 
safe,  as  a  quick  verdict  for  the  defendant  proved  it  to  be. 
In  nothing  connected  with  this  case  was  the  ingenuity  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  more  evident,  perhaps,  than  in  the  insignif- 
icance of  the  sum  which  he  placed  in  risk  by  the  hypo- 
thetical wager.  It  was  not  a  hundred  dollars,  or  a  thous- 
and dollars,  or  even  a  dollar,  but  the  smallest  silver  coin, 
to  show  to  them  that  the  verdict  should  go  with  the  pre- 
ponderance of  evidence,  even  if  the  preponderance  should 
be  only  a  hair's  weight. 


:o:- 


A  Famous  Story. 

It  is  said  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  always  ready  to  join  in 
a  laugh  at  the  expense  of  his  person,  concerning  which 
he  was  indifferent.  Many  of  his  friends  will  recognize 
the  following  story — the  incident  actually  occurred — 
which  he  always  told  with  great  glee: 

v'In  the  days  when  I  used  to  be  'on  the  circuit,'  "  said 
Lincoln,  "I  was  accosted  in  the  cars  by  a  stranger,  who 
said: 

"Excuse  me,  sir,  but  I  have  an  article  in  my  possession 
which  belongs  to  you." 

"How  is  that?"  I  asked,  considerably  astonished. 

The  stranger  took  a  jack-knife  from  his  pocket.  "This 
knife,"  said  he,  "was  placed  in  my  hands  some  years 
ago,  with  the  injunction  that  I  was  to  keep  it  until  I 
found  a  man  uglier  than  myself.  I  have  carried  it  from 
that  time  to  this.  Allow  me  now  to  say,  sir,  that  I  think 
you  are  fairly  entitled  to  the  property." 


79 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE. 


.^°- 


GEN.    JAMES    A.     GARFIELD. 

Lincoln's  Story  of  a  Young  Lawyer  as  he  told  it 
to  General  Garfield. 

General  Garfield,  of  Ohio,  received  from  the  President 
the  account  of  the  capture  of  Norfolk  with  the  following 
preface: 

"By  the  way,  Garfield,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,   "you  never 


80  LINCOLN'S    STORIES   AND   SPEECHES. 

heard,  did  you,  that  Chase,  Stanton  and  I  had  a  cam- 
paign of  our  own?  We  went  down  to  Fortress  Monroe 
in  Chase's  revenue  cutter  and  consulted  with  Admiral 
Goldsborough  as  to  the  feasibility  of  taking  Norfolk  by 
landing  on  the  north  shore  and  making  a  march  of  eight 
miles.  The  admiral  said,  very  positively,  there  was  no 
landing  on  that  shore,  and  we  should  have  to  double  the 
cape  and  approach  the  place  from  the  sonth  side,  which 
would  be  a  long  and  difficult  journey.  I  thereupon  asked 
him  if  he  had  ever  tried  to  find  a  landing,  and  he  replied 
that  he  had  not. 

"Now,"  said  I,  "Admiral,  that  reminds  me  of  a  chap 
out  West  who  had  studied  law,  but  had  never  tried  a 
case.  Being  sued,  and  not  having  confidence  in  his  abil- 
ity to  manage  his  own  case,  he  employed  a  fellow-lawyer 
to  manage  it  for  him.  He  had  only  a  confused  idea  of 
the  meaning  of  law  terms,  but  was  anxious  to  make  a 
display  of  learning,  and  on  the  trial  constantly  made  sug- 
gestions to  his  lawyer,  who  paid  no  attention  to  him.  At 
last,  fearing  that  his  lawyer  was  not  handling  the  oppos- 
iog  counsel  very  well,  he  lost  all  patience,  and  springing 
to  his  feet,  cried  out:  'Why  don't  you  go  at  him  with  a 
capias,  or  a  surre-butter,  or  something,  and  not  stand 
there  like  a  confounded  old  nunum-prctum?% 


■:o' 


Lincoln  and  His  SteprMother. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Lincoln  entered  upon  his  profession  at 
Springfield,  he  was  engaged  in  a  criminal  case  in  which 
it  was  thought  there  was  little  chance  of  success.  Throw- 
ing all  his  powers  into  it  he  came  off  victorious,  and 
promptly  received  for  his  services    five  hundred    dollars. 


PROFSSIONAL    LIFE. 


81 


A  legal  friend  calling  upon  him  the  next  morning  found 
him  sitting  before  a  table,  upon  which  his  money  was 
spread  out,  counting  it  over  and  over. 

"Look  here,    Judge,"  said  he;    "See    what  a  heap  of 


MRS.   SARAH  BUSH  LINCOLN;  LINCOLN  S  STEPMOTHER. 

money  I've  got  from  the case.      Did  you    ever    see 

anything  like  it?  Why,  I  never  had  so  much  money  in 
my  life  before,  put  it  all  together?"  Then  crossing  his 
arms  upon  the  table,  his  manner  sobering  down,  he  add- 
ed,   "I  have  got  just  five  hundred  dollars;  if  it  were  only 


82  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

seven  hundred  and  fifty,  I  would  go  directly  and  purchase 
•a  quarter  section  of  land,  and  settle  it  upon  my  old  step- 
mother." 

His  friend  said  that  if  the  deficiency  was  all  he  needed 
he  would  loan  him  the  amount,  taking  his  note,  to  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  instantly  acceded. 

His  friend  then  said: 

"Lincoln  I  would  not  do  just  what  you  have  indicated. 
Your  step-mother  is  getting  old,  and  will  not  probably 
live  many  years.  I  would  settle  the  property  upon  her 
for  her  use  during  her  lifetime,  to  revert  to  you  upon 
her  death." 

With  much  feeling  Mr.  Lincoln  replied: 

"I  shall  do  no  such  thing.  It  is  a  poor  return  at  best 
for  all  the  good  woman's  devotion  and  fidelity  to  me,  and 
there  is  not  going  to  be  any  half-way  business  about  it;" 
and  so  saying,  he  gathered  up  his  money  and  proceeded 
forthwith  to  carry  his  long-cherished  purpose  into 
execution. 

:  o : 

A  Letter  to  His  Beloved  Stepmother. 

Lincoln's  love  for  his  second  mother  was  most  filial  and 
affectionate.      In  a  letter  of  Nov.  4,  1851,  just  after  the 
death  of  his  father,  he  writes  to  her  as  follows: 
"Dear  Mother: 

Chapman  tells  me  he  wants  you  to  go  and  live  with 
him.  If  I  were  you  I  would  try  it  awhile.  If  you  get 
tired  of  it  (as  I  think  you  will  not)  you  can  return  to  your 
own  home.  Chapman  feels  very  kindly  to  you,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  he  will  make  your  situation  very  pleasant. 

Sincerely,  your  son, 

A.  Lincoln. 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  83 

The  Lincoln-Shields  Duel. 

The  late  Gen.  Shields  was  Auditor  of  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois in  1839.  While  he  occupied  this  important  office 
he  was  involved  in  an  "affair  of  honor"  with  a  Spring- 
field lawyer— no  less  a  personage  than  Abraham  Lincoln. 
At  this  time  "James  Shields,  Auditor,"  was  the  pride  of 
the  young  Democracy,  and  was  considered  a  dashing 
fellow  by  all,  the  ladies  included. 

In  the  summer  of  1842  the  Springfield  Journal  con- 
tained some  letters  from  the  !'Lost  Township,"  by  a 
contributor  whose  non  de  plume  was  "Aunt  Becca," 
which  held  up  the  gallant  young  Auditor  as  "a  ball- 
room dandy,  floatin'  about  on  the  earth  without  heft  or 
substance,  just  like  a  lot  of  cat-fur  where  cats  had  been 
fightin'." 

These  letters  caused  intense  excitement  in  the  town. 
Nobody  knew  or  guessed  their  authorship.  Shields  swore 
it  would  be  coffee  and  pistols  for  two  if  he  should  find 
out  who  had  been  lampooning  him  so  unmercifully. 
Thereupon  "Aunt  Becca"  wrote  another  letter,  which 
made  the  furnace  of  his  wrath  seven  times  hotter  than 
before,  in  which  she  made  a  very  humble  apology  and 
offered  to  let  him  squeeze  her  hand  for  satisfaction, 
adding: 

"If  this  should  not  answer,  there  is  one  thing  more  I 
would  rather  do  than  to  get  a  lickin'.  I  have  all  along 
expected  to  die  a  widow;  but,  as  Mr.  Shields  is  rather 
good-looking  than  otherwise,  I  must  say  I  don't  care  if 
we  compromise  the  matter  by — really,  Mr.  Printer,  I  can't 
help  blushin' — but  I — must  come  out — I — but  widowed 
modesty — well,  if  I  must,  I  must — wouldn't    he — maybe 


84  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

sorter  let  the  old  grudge  drap  if  I  was  to  consent  to  be — 
be — his  wife.  I  know  he  is  a  fightin'  man,  and  would 
rather  fight  than  eat;  but  isn't  marryin  better  than 
fightin',  though  it  does  sometimes  run  into  it?  And  I 
don't  think,  upon  the  whole,  I'd  be  sich  a  bad  match, 
neither;  I'm  not  over  sixty,  and  am  just  four  feet  three 
in  my  bare  feet,  and  not  much  more  round  the  gerth; 
and  for  color,  I  wouldn't  turn  my  back  to  nary  a  girl  in 
the  Lost  Townships.  But,  after  all,  maybe  I'm  countin' 
my  chickens  before  they're  hatched,  and  dreamin'  of 
matrimonial  bliss  when  the  only  alternative  reserved  for 
me  maybe  a  lickin'.  Jeff  tells  me  the  way  these  fire- 
eaters  do  is  to  give  the  challenged  party  the  choice  of 
weapons,  which,  being  the  case,  I  tell  you  in  confidence, 
I  never  fight  with  anything  but  brocmsticks  or  hot  water, 
or  a  shovelful  of  coals  or  some  such  thing;  the  former  of 
which,  being  somewhat  like  a  shillelah,  may  not.be  so 
very  objectionable  to  him.  I  will  give  him  a  choice, 
however,  in  one  thing,  and  that  is  whether,  when  we 
fight,  I  shall  wear  breeches  or  he  petticoats,  for  I 
presume  this  change  is  sufficient  to  place  us  on  an 
equality.  ' 

Of  course  some  one  had  to  shoulder  the  responsibility 
of  these  letters  after  such  a  shot.  The  real  author  was 
none  other  than  Miss  Mary  Todd,  afterward  the  wife  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  to  whom  she  was  engaged,  and  who 
was  in  honor  bound  to  assume,  for  belligerent  purposes, 
the  responsibility  of  her  sharp  pen-thrusts.  Mr.  Lincoln 
accepted  the  situation .  Not  long  after  the  two  men, 
with  their  seconds,  were  on  their  way  to  the  field  of 
of  honor.      But  the  affair  was  fixed  up  without  any  fight- 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  85 

ing,  and  thus  ended  in  a  fizzle  the    Lincoln-Shields  duel 
of  the  Lost  Township. 


-:o: 


An  Amusing   Story    Concerning  Thompson 

Campbell. 

Among  the  numerous  visitors  on  one  of  the  President's 
reception  days  were  a  party  of  Congressmen,  among 
whom  was  the  Hon.  Thomas  Shannon  of  California. 
Soon  after  the  cnstomary  greeting,  Mr.  Shannon  said: 

"Mr.  President,  I  met  an  old  friend  of  yours  in  Cali- 
fornia last  summer,  Thompson  Campbell,  who  had  a 
good  deal  to  say  of  your  Springfield  life." 

"Ah!"  returned  Mr.  Lincoln,  "lam  glad  to  hear  of 
him.  Campbell  used  to  be  a  dry  fellow,"  he  continued. 
"For  a  time  he  was  Secretary  of  State.  One  day,  dur- 
ing the  legislative  vacation,  a  meek,  cadaverous-looking 
man,  with  a  white  neck-cloth,  introduced  himself  to  him 
at  his  office,  and  stating  that  he  had  been  informed  that 
Mr.  C.  had  the  letting  of  the  Assembly  Chamber,  said 
that  he  wished  to  secure  it,  if  possible,  for  a  course  to  lec- 
ture he  desired  to  deliver  in  Springfield. 

"May  I  ask,"  said  the  Secretary,  "what  is  to  be  the 
subject  of  your  lectures?  " 

"Certainly,"  was  the  reply,  with  a  very  solemn  expres- 
sion of  countenance.  "The  course  I  wish  to  deliver  is 
on  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord." 

"It  is  no  use,"  said  Mr.  C.  "If  you  will  take  my  ad- 
vice you  will  not  waste  your  time  in  this  city.  It  is  my 
private  opinion  that  if  the  Lord  has  been  in  Springfield 
once,  He  will  not  come  the  second  time!  " 


86  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Lincoln's  Story  of  Joe  Wilson  and  His  "Spotted 

Animals." 

Although  the  friendly  relations  which  existed  between 
the  President  and  Secretary  Cameron  were  not  inter- 
rupted by  the  retirement  of  the  latter  from  the  War 
Office,  so  important  a  change  in  the  Administration  could 
not  of  course  take  place  without  the  irrepressible  "story' 
from  Mr.  Lincoln.  Shortly  after  this  event  some  gentle- 
men called  upon  the  President,  and  expressing  much  sat- 
isfaction at  the  change,  intimated  that  in  their  judgment 
the  interests  of  the  country  required  an  entire  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  Cabinet. 

Mr.  Lincoln  heard  them  through,  and  then  shaking 
his  head  dubiously,  replied,  with  his  peculiar  smile: 
"Gentlemen,  when  I  was  a  young  man  I  used  to  know 
very  well  one  Joe  Wilson,  who  built  himself  a  log-cabin 
not  far  from  where  I  lived.  Joe  was  very  fond  of  eggs 
and  chickens,  and  he  took  a  good  deal  of  pains  in  fitting 
up  a  poultry  shed.  Having  at  length  got  together  a 
choice  lot  of  young  fowls — of  which  he  was  very  proud 
— he  began  to  be  much  annoyed  by  the  depredations  of 
those  little  black  and  white  spotted  animals,  which  it  is 
not  necessary  to  name.  One  night  Joe  was  awakened  by 
an  unusual  cackling  and  fluttering  among  his  chickens. 
Getting  up,  he  crept  out  to  see  what  was  going  on. 

"It  was  a  moonlight  night,  and  he  soon  caught  sight 
of  half  a  dozen  of  the  little  pests,  which,  with  their  dam, 
were  running  in  and  out  of  the  shadow  of  the  shed.  Very 
wrathy,  Joe  put  a  double  charge  into  his  old  musket,  and 
thought  he  would  'clean'  out  the  whole  tribe  at  one  shot. 
Somehow  he  only  killed  one,  and  the  balance  scampered 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  $7 

off  across  the  field.  In  telling  the  story,  Joe  would 
always  pause  here,  and  hold  his  nose. 

"  'Why  didn't  you  follow  them  up,  and  kill  the  rest  ?' 
inquired  the  neighbors. 

"  'Blast  it,"  said  Joe,  'why,  it  was  eleven  weeks  before 
I  got  over  killin'  one.  If  you  want  anymore  skirmishing 
in  that  line  you  can  just  do  it  yourselves  !' " 


-:o:- 


An  Incident  Related  by  One  of  Lincoln's  Clients. 

It  was  not  possible  for  Mr.  Lincoln  to  regard  his 
clients  simply  in  the  light  of  business.  An  unfortunate 
man  was  a  subject  of  his  sympathy,  a  Mr.  Cogdal,  who 
related  the  incident  to  Mr.  Holland,  met  with  a  financial 
wreck  in  1843.  He  employed  Mr.  Lincoln  as  his  lawyer, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  business,  gave  him  a  note  to  cover 
the  regular  lawyer's  fees.  He  was  soon  afterwards  blown 
up  by  an  accidental  discharge  of  powder,  and  lost  his 
hand.  Meeting  Mr.  Lincoln  some  time  after  the  acci- 
dent, on  the  steps  of  the  State  House,  the  kind  lawyer 
asked  him  how  he  was  getting  along. 

"Badly  enough,"  replied  Mr.  Cogdal,  "I  am  both 
broken  up  in  business  and  crippled. "  Then  he  added, 
"I  have  been  thinking  about  that  note  of  yours." 

Mr.  Lincoln,  who  had  probably  known  all  about  Mr. 
Cogdal's  troubles,  and  had  prepared  himself  for  the  meet- 
ing, took  out  his  pocket-book,  and  saying,  with  a  laugh, 
"well,  you  needn't  think  any  more  about  it,"  handed  him 
the  note. 

Mr.  Cogdal  protesting,  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  "if  you  had 
the  money,  I  would  not  take  it, "  and  hurried  away. 

At  this  same  date  he  was  frankly  writing  about  his  pov- 


88  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

erty  to  his  friends,  as  a  reason  for  not  making  them  a 
visit,  and  probably  found  it  no  easy  task  to  take  care  of 
his  family,  even  when  board  at  the  Globe  Tavern  was 
"only  four  dollars  a  week." 

:o: 

Lincoln  Defends  Col.  Baker. 

On  one  occasion  when  Col.  Baker  was  speaking  in  a 
court-house,  which  had  been  a  store-house,  and,  on  mak- 
ing some  remarks  that  were  offensive  to  certain  political 
rowdies  in  the  crowd,  they  cried:  "Take  him  off  the 
stand."  Immediate  confusion  ensued,  and  there  was  an 
attempt  to  carry  the  demand  into  execution.  Directly 
over  the  speaker's  head  was  an  old  scuttle,  at  which  it 
appeared  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  listening  to  the  speech. 
In  an  instant,  Mr.  Lincoln's  feet  came  through  the 
scuttle,  followed  by  his  tall  and  sinewy  frame,  and  he 
was  standing  by  Col.  Baker's  side.  He  raised  his  hand, 
and  the  assembly  subsided  immediately  into  silence. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  Mr,  Lincoln,  "let  us  not  disgrace 
the  age  and  country  in  which  we  live.  This  is  a  land 
where  freedom  of  speech  is  guaranteed.  Mr.  Baker  has 
a  right  to  speak,  and  ought  to  be  permitted  to  do  so.  I 
am  here  to  protect  him,  and  no  man  shall  take  him  from 
this  stand  if  I  can  prevent  it. " 

The  suddenness  of  his  appearance,  his  perfect  calm- 
ness and  fairness,  and  the  knowledge  that  he  would  do 
what  he  had  promised  to  do,  quieted  all  disturbance,  and 
the  speaker  concluded  his  remarks  without  difficulty. 

:o 

The  Judge  and  the  Drunken   Coachman. 

Attorney-General  Bates  was  once  remonstrating  with 
the  President  against  the  appointment  to  a  judicial  posi- 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE  89 

tion  of  considerable  importance  of  a  western  man,  who, 
though  on  the  "bench,"  was  of  indifferent  reputation  as  a 
lawyer. 

"Well  now,  Judge,"   returned    Mr.  Lincoln,   "I  think 

you  are    rather  too  hard   on .      Besides  that,  I  must 

tell  you,  he  did  me  a  good  turn  long  ago.  When  I  took 
to  the  law,  I  was  walking  to  court  one  morning,  with 
some  ten  or  twelve  miles  of  bad  road  before  me,  when 
overtook  me  in  his  wagon . 

"  'Hallo,  Lincoln  !'  said  he;  'going  to  the  court-house? 
Come  in  and  I  will  give  you  a  seat. ' 

"Well.  I  got  in,  and went  on  reading  his  papers. 

Presently  the  wagon  struck  a  stump  on  one  side  of  the 
road:  then  it  hopped  off  to  the  other.  I  looked  out  and 
saw  the  driver  was  jerking  from  side  to  side  in  his  seat; 
so  said  I,  'Judge;  I  think  your  coachman  has  been  tak- 
ing a  drop  too  much  this  morning.' 

"  'Well,  I  declare,  Lincoln,'  said  he,  'I  should  not 
much  wonder  if  you  are  right,  for  he  has  nearly  upset  me 
half-a-dozen  times  since  starting.'  So,  putting  his  head 
out  of  the  window,  he  shouted,  'Why,  you  infernal  scoun- 
drel you  are  drunk  !' 

"Upon  which  pulling  up  his  horses  and  turning  round 
with  great  gravity,  the  coachman  said.  'Be  dad  !  but 
that's  the  first  rightful  decision  your  honor  has  given  for 
the  last  twelve  months  !'  " 


•cot- 


Honest  Abe  and  His  Lady  Client. 

About  the  time  Mr.  Lincoln  began  to  be  known  as  a 
successful  lawyer,  he  was  waited  upon  by  a  lady,  who 
held  a  real-estate    claim  which  she   desired   to  have  him 


9o 


LICCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 


prosecute,  putting  into  his  hands,  with  the  necessary 
papers,  a  check  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  as  a 
retaining  fee.  Mr.  Lincoln  said  he  would  look  the  case 
over,  and  asked  her  to  call  again  the  next  day.  Upon 
presenting  herself,  Mr.  Lincoln  told  her  that  he  had  gone 
through  the  papers  very  carefully,  and  must  tell  her 
frankly  that    there  was  not  a    '  'peg"  to    hang  her   claim 


upon,  and  he  could  not  conscientiously  advise  her  to 
bring  an  action.  The  lady  was  satisfied,  and,  thanking 
him,  rose  to  go. 

"Wait,"  said  Mr,  Lincoln,  fumbling  in  his  vest  pocket; 
"here  is  the  check  you  left  with  me." 

"But,  Mr.     Lincoln,"  returned  the    lady,   "I  think  you 
earned  that. " 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  9  I 

•'No,  no,"  he  responded,  handing  it  back  to  her;  "that 
would  not  be  right.  I  can't  take  pay  for  doing  my 
duty." 

:o: 

Attention  Shown  to  Relatives. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  traits  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
his  considerate  regard  for  the  poor  and  obscure  relatives 
he  had  left,  plodding  along  in  their  humble  ways  of  life. 
Wherever  upon  his  circuit  he  found  them,  he  always 
went  to  their  dwellings,  ate  with  them,  and,  when  con- 
venient, made  their  houses  his  home.  He  never  assumed 
in  their  presence  the  slightest  superiority  to  them,  in 
the  facts  and  conditions  of  his  life.  He  gave  them  money 
when  they  needed  and  he  possessed  it.  Countless  times 
he  was  known  to  leave  his  companions  at  the  village 
hotel,  after  a  hard  day's  work  in  the  court  room,  and 
spend  the  evening  with  these  old  friends  and  campanions 
of  his  humbler  days.  On  one  occasion,  when  urged  not 
to  go,  he  replied,  "Why,  aunt's  heart  would  be  broken  if 
I  should  leave  town  without  calling  upon  her;"  yet  he  was 
obliged  to  walk  several  miles  to  make  the  call. 

:o: 


How  Lincoln  Kept  His  Business  Accounts. 

A  little  fact  in  Lincoln's  work  will  illustrate  his  ever 
present  desire  to  deal  honestly  and  justly  with  men.  He 
had  always  a  partner  in  his  professional  life,  and,  when 
he  went  out  upon  the  circuit,  this  partner  was  usually  at 
home.  When  out  he  frequently  took  up  and  disposed  of 
cases  that  were  never  entered  at  the  office.  In  these  cases, 
after    receiving  his  fees,    he  divided   the  money   in  his 


92  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

pocket-book,  labeling  each  sum  (wrapped  in  a  piece  of 
paper),  that  belonged  to  his  partner,  stating  his  name, 
and  the  case  on  which  it  was  received.  He  could  not  be 
content  to  keep  an  account.  He  divided  the  money,  so 
that  if  he,  by  any  casualty  should  fail  of  an  opportunity 
to  pay  it  over,  there  could  be  no  dispute  as  to  the  exact 
amount  that  was  his  partners  due.  This  may  seem 
trivial,  nay,  boyish,  but  it  was  like  Mr.  Lincoln. 


:o:- 


Lincoln  in  Court. 

Senator  McDonald  states  that  he  saw  a  jury  trial  in 
Illinois,  at  which  Lincoln  defended  an  old  man  charged 
with  assault  and  battery.  No  blood  had  been  spilled, 
but  there  was  malice  in  the  prosecution,  and  the  chief 
witness  was  eager  to  make  the  most  of  it.  On  cross-ex- 
amination, Lincoln  gave  him  rope  and  drew  him  out; 
asked  him  how  long  the  fight  lasted,  and  how  much 
ground  it  covered.  The  witness  thought  the  fight  must 
have  lasted  half  an  hour,  and  covered  an  acre  of  ground. 
Lincoln  called  his  attention  to  the  fact  that   nobody  was 

hurt,  and    then,  with    an  inimitable   air,  asked  him  if  he 
didn't  think    it  was    "a  mighty  small    crop  for  an  acre  of 

ground."     The  jury  rejected  the  case  with   contempt  as 

beneath  the  dignity  of  twelve  brave,  good  men  and  true. 

In  another  cause  the  son   of  his  old   friend,  who  had 

employed  him  and  loaned  him  books,  was  charged  with  a 

murder  committed  in  a  riot  at  a  camp-meeting.      Lincoln 

volunteered  for  the  defense.    A  witness  swore  that  he  saw 

the  prisoner  strike  the  fatal  blow.      It  was  night,  but  be 

swore  that  the  full  moon  was  shining  clear,  and  he  saw 

everything  distinctly.      The   case   seemed  hopeless,   but 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  93 

Lincoln  produced  an  almanac,  and  showed  that  at  the 
hour  there  was  no  moon .  Then  he  depicted  the  crime 
of  perjury  with  such  eloquence  that  the  false  witness  fled 
the  Court  House.  One  who  heard  the  trial  says:  "It 
was  near  night  when  he  concluded,  saying:  'If  justice 
was  done,  before  the  sun  set  it  would  shine  upon  his 
client  a  free  man.'  " 

The  Court  charged  the  jury;  they  retired,  and  presently 
returned  a  verdict — "Not  guilty."  The  prisoner  fell  into 
his  weeping  mother's  arms,  and  then  turned  to  thank  Mr. 
Linclon,  who,  looking  out  at  the  sun,  said:  "It  is  not 
yet  sundown,  and  you  are  free." 


•:o:- 


One  of  Lincoln's  ''Hardest  Hits." 

In  Abbott's  "History  of  the  Civil  War,"  the  following 
story  is  told  of  one  of  Lincoln's  "hardest  hits:"  "I  once 
knew,"  said  Lincoln,  "a  sound  churchman  by  the  name 
of  Brown,  who  was  a  member  of  a  very  sober  and  pious 
committee  having  in  charge  the  erection  of  a  bridge  over 
a  dangerous  and  rapid  river.  Several  architects  failed, 
and  at  last  Brown  said  he  had  a  friend  named  Jones,  who 
had  built  several  bridges  and  undoubtedly  could  build 
that  one.      So  Mr.  Jones  was  called  in. 

"  'Can  you  build  this  bridge  ?'  inquired  the  committee. 

"  'Yes,'  replied  Jones,  or  any  other.  I  could  build  a 
bridge  to  the  infernal  regions,  if  necessary  !' 

The  committee  were  shocked,  and  Brown  felt  called 
upon  to  defend  his  friend.  'I  know  Jones  so  well,'  said 
he,  'and  he  is  so  honest  a  man  and  so  good  an  architect 
that  if  he  states  soberly  and  positivgly  that  he  can  build 
a  bridge  to — to ,  why,  I  believe  it;  but  I  feel  bound 


94 


LINCOLN  S    SHORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 


to  say  that  I  have  my  doubts  about  the  abutment  on  the 
infernal  side.' 

"So,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "when  politicians  told  me 
that  the  northern  and  southern  wings  of  the  Democracy 
could  be  harmonized,  why,  I  believed  them,  of  course; 
but  I  always  had  my  doubts  about  the  'abutment'  on  the 
other  side." 


A  Good  Temperance  Man. 

Immediately  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  nomination  for  Presi- 
dent at  the    Chicago  Convention,  a  committee,  of  which 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  95 

Governor  Morgan,  of  New  York,  was  Chairman,  visited 
him  in  Springfield,  111. ,  where  he  was  officially  informed 
of  his  nomination. 

After  this  ceremony  had  passed,  Mr.  Lincoln  remarked 
to  the  company  that  as  an  appropriate  conclusion  to  an 
interview  so  important  and  interesting  as  that  which  had 
just  transpired,  he  supposed  good  manners  would  require 
that  he  should  treat  the  committee  with  something  to 
drink;  and  opening  a  door  that  led  into  a  room  in  the 
rear,  he  called  out,  "Mary!  Mary!"  A  girl  responded  to 
the  call,  to  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  spoke  a  few  words  in  an 
under-tone,  and,  closing  the  door,  returned  again  to  con- 
verse with  his  guests.  In  a  few  minutes  the  maiden  en- 
tered, bearing  a  large  waiter,  containing  several  glass 
tumblers,  and  a  large  pitcher  in  the  midst,  and  placed  it 
upon  the  center-table.  Mr.  Lincoln  arose,  and  gravely 
addressing  the  company,  said:  "Gentlemen,  we  must 
pledge  our  mutual  healths  in  the  most  healthy  beverage 
which  God  has  given  to  man — it  is  the  only  beverage  I 
have  ever  used  or  allowed  in  my  family,  and  I  cannot 
conscientiously  depart  from  it  on  the  present  occasion — 
it  is  pure  Adam's  ale  from  the  spring;"  and,  taking  a 
tumbler,  he  touched  it  to  his  lips,  and  pledged  them  his 
highest  respects  in  a  cup  of  cold  water.  Of  course,  all 
his  guests  were  constrained  to  admire  his  consistency, 
and  to  join  in  his  example. 

;o; 


Gen.   Linder's  Account  of  the  Lincoln-Shields 

Duel. 

When   the    famous    challenge    was    sent    by    General 
Shields  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  it  was  at    once  accepted,  and  by 


96  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

the  advice  of  his  especial  friend  and  second,  Dr.  Merri- 
man,  he  chose  broadswords  as  the  weapons  with  which 
to  fight.  Dr.  Merriman  being  a  splendid  swordsman 
trained  him  in  the  use  of  that  instrument,  which  made  it 
almost  certain  that  Shields  would  be  killed  or  discom- 
fited, for  he  was  a  small,  short-armed  man,  while  Lincoln 
was  a  tall,  sinewy,  long-armed  man,  and  as  stout  as 
Hercules. 


They  went  to  Alton,  and  were  to  fight  on  the  neck  of 
land  between  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  near 
their  confluence.  John  J.  Hardin,  hearing  of  the  con- 
templated duel,  determined  to  prevent  it,  and  hastened 
to  Alton,  with  all  imaginable  celerity,  where  he  fell  in 
with  the  belligerent  parties,  and  aided  by  some  other 
friends  of  both  Lincoln  and  Shields,  succeeded  in  effect- 
ing a  reconciliation. 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  97 

After  this  affair  between  Lincoln  and  Shields,  I  met 
Lincoln  at  the  Danville  court,  and  in  a  walk  we  took  to- 
gether, seeing  him  make  passes  with  a  stick,  such  as  are 
made  in  the  broadsword  exercise,  I  was  induced  to  ask 
him  why  he  had  selected  that  weapon  with  which  to 
fight  Shields.  He  promptly  answered  in  that  sharp,  ear- 
splitting  voice  of  his: 

"To  tell  you  the  truth,  Linder,  I  did  not  want  to  kill 
Shields,  and  felt  sure  I  could  disarm  him,  having  had 
about  a  month  to  learn  the  broadsword  exercise;  and 
furthermore,  I  didn't  want  the  darned  fellow  to  kill  me, 
which  I  rather  think  he  would  have  done  if  we  had  se- 
lected pistols." 


■:o:- 


Lincoln  Defends  the  Son  of  An  Old   Friend  In- 
dicted for  Murder. 

Jack  Armstrong,  the  leader  of  the  "Clarey  Grove 
Boys,"  with  whom  Lincoln  in  early  life  had  a  scuffle 
which  "Jack"  agreed  to  call  "a  drawn  battle,"  in  conse- 
quence of  his  own  foul  play,  afterwards  became  a  life- 
long, warm  friend  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  Later  in  life  the  ris- 
ing lawyer  would  stop  at  Jack's  cabin  home,  and  here 
Mrs.  Armstrong,  a  most  womanly  person,  learned  to  re- 
spect Mr.  Lincoln.  There  was  no  service  to  which  she 
did  not  make  her  guest  abundantly  welcome,  and  he 
never  ceased  to  feel  the  tenderest  gratitude  for  her 
kindness. 

At  length  her  husband  died,  and  she  became  depend- 
ent upon  her  sons.  The  oldest  of  these,  while  in  at- 
tendance upon  a  camp-meeting;  found  himself  involved 
in  a  melee,  which  resulted  in  the  death  of  a  young  man, 


98  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

and  young  Armstrong  was  charged  by  one  of  his  asso- 
ciates with  striking  the  fatal  blow.  He  was  examined, 
and  imprisoned  to  await  his  trial.  The  public  mind  was 
in  a  blaze  of  excitement,  and  interested  parties  fed  the 
flame. 

Mr.  Lincoln  knew  nothing  of  the  merits  of  this  case, 
that  is  certain.  He  only  knew  that  his  old  friend  Mrs. 
Armstrong  was  in  sore  trouble;  and  he  sat  down  at  once, 
and  volunteered  by  letter  to  defend  her  son.  His  first 
act  was  to  procure  the  postponement  and  a  change  of 
the  place  of  trial.  There  was  too  much  fever  in  the 
minds  of  the  immediate  public  to  permit  of  fair  treat- 
ment. When  the  trial  came  on,  the  case  looked  very 
hopeless  to  all  but  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  had  assured  him- 
self that  the  young  man  was  not  guilty.  The  evidence 
on  behalf  of  the  State  being  all  in,  and  looking  like  a 
solid  and  consistent  mass  of  testimony  against  the  pris- 
oner, Mr.  Lincoln  undertook  the  task  of  analyzing  and 
destroying  it,  which  he  did  in  a  manner  that  surprised 
every  one.  The  principal  witness  testified  that  "by  the 
aid  of  the  brightly  shining  moon,  he  saw  the  prisoner 
inflict  the  death-blow  with  a  slung  shot.'*  Mr.  Lincoln 
proved  by  the  almanac  that  there  was  no  moon  shining 
at  the  time.  The  mass  of  testimony  against  the  prisoner 
melted  away,  until  "not  guilty"  was  the  verdict  of  every 
man  present  in  the  crowded  court-room. 

There  is,  of  course,  no  record  of  the  plea  made  on  this 
occasion,  but  it  is  remembered  as  one  in  which  Mr.  Lin- 
coln made  an  appeal  to  the  sympathies  of  the  jury,  which 
quite  surpassed  his  usual  efforts  of  the  kind,  and  melted 
all  to  tears.  The  jury  were  out  but  half  an  hour,  when 
they  returned  with  their  verdict  of    "not  guilty."     The 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  99 

widow  fainted  in  the  arms  of  her  son,  who  divided  his 
attention  between  his  services  to  her  and  his  thanks  to 
his  deliverer.  And  thus  the  kind  woman  who  cared  for 
the  poor  young  man,  and  showed  herself  a  mother  to 
him  in  his  need,  received  the  life  of  a  son,  saved  from  a 
cruel  conspiracy,  as  her  reward,  from  the  hand  of  her 
grateful  beneficiary. 


•:o: 


Some  of  Lincoln's  "Cases"  and  How  He  Treated 

Them. 

A  sheep-grower  on  a  certain  occasion  sold  a  number 
of  sheep  at  a  stipulated  average  price.  When  he  deliv- 
ered the  animals,  he  delivered  many  lambs,  or  sheep  too 
young  to  come  fairly  within  the  terms  of  the  contract. 
He  was  sued  for  damages  by  the  injured  party,  and  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  his  attorney.  At  the  trial,  the  facts  as  to 
the  character  of  the  sheep  were  proved,  and  several  wit- 
nesses testified  as  to  the  usage  by  which  all  under  a  cer- 
tain age  were  regarded  as  lambs,  and  of  inferior  value. 
Mr.  Lincoln,  on  comprehending  the  facts,  at  once  chang- 
ed his  line  of  effort,  and  confined  himself  to  ascertaining 
the  real  number  of  inferior  sheep  delivered.  On  address- 
ing the  jury,  he  said  that  from  the  facts  proved,  they 
must  give  a  verdict  against  his  client,  and  he  only  asked 
their  scrutiny  as  to  the  actual  damage  suffered. 

In  another  case,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  conducting  a  suit 
against  a  railroad  company.  Judgment  having  been  giv- 
en in  his  favor,  and  the  court  being  about  to  allow  the 
amount  claimed  by  him,  deducting  an  approved  and  al- 
lowed offset,  he  rose  and  stated  that  his  opponents  had 
not  proved  all  that  was  justly  due  them  in  an  offset;  and 


IOO  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

proceeded  to  state  and  allow  a  further  sum  against  his 
client,  which  the  court  allowed  in  its  judgment.  His  de- 
sire for  the  establishment  of  exact  justice  overcame  his 
own  selfish  love  of  victory,  as  well  as  his  partiality  for 
his  clients'  feelings  and  interests. 


•:o: 


Lincoln's  Pungent  Retort. 

A  little  incident  occurred  during  a  political  campaign 
that  illustrated  Mr.  Lincoln's  readiness  in  turning  a  polit- 
ical point.  He  was  making  a  speech  at  Charleston,  Coles 
County,  Illinois,  when  a  voice  called  out: 

"Mr.  Lincoln,  is  it  true  that  you  entered  this  State 
barefoot,  driving  a  yoke  of  oxen?" 

Mr.  Lincoln  paused  for  full  half  a  minute,  as  if  con- 
sidering whether  he  should  notice  such  cruel  impertin- 
ence, and  then  said  that  he  thought  he  could  prove  the 
fact  by  at  least  a  dozen  men  in  the  crowd,  any  one  of 
whom  was  more  respectable  than  his  questioner.  But 
the  question  seemed  to  inspire  him,  and  he  went  on  to 
show  what  free  institutions  had  done  for  himself,  and  to 
exhibit  the  evils  of  slavery  to  the  white  man  wherever  it 
existed,  and  asked  if  it  was  not  natural  that  he  should 
hate  slavery  and  agitate  against  it. 

'•Yes,"  said  he,  "we  will  speak  for  freedom  and  against 
slavery,  as  long  as  the  Constitution  of  our  country  guar- 
antees free  speech,  until  everywhere  on  this  wide  land 
the  sun  shall  shine,  and  the  rain  shall  fall,  and  the  wind 
shall  blow  upon  no  man  who  goes  forth  to  unrequitted 
toil." 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  10 1 

A   Revolutionary  Pensioner  Defended  by  Lin- 
coln. 

An  old  woman  of  seventy-five  years,  the  widow  of  a 
revolutionary  pensioner,  came  tottering  into  his  law  of- 
fice one  day,  and,  taking  a  seat,  told  him  that  a  certain 
pension  agent  had  charged  her  the  exhorbitant  fee  of  two 
hundred  dollars  for  collecting  her  claim.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  satisfied  by  her  representations  that  she  had  been 
swindled,  and  finding  that  she  was  not  a  resident  of  the 
town,  and  that  she  was  poor,  gave  her  money,  and  set 
about  the  work  of  procuring  restitution.  He  immedi- 
ately entered  suit  against  the  agent  to  recover  a  portion 
of  his  ill-gotten  money.  The  suit  was  entirely  success- 
ful, and  Mr.  Lincoln's  address  to  the  jury  before  which 
the  case  was  tried  is  remembered  to  have  been  peculiar- 
ly touching  in  its  allusions  to  the  poverty  of  the  wid- 
ow, and  the  patriotism  of  the  husband  she  had  sacrificed 
to  secure  the  Nation's  independence.  He  had  the  grati- 
fication of  paying  back  to  her  a  hundred  dollars,  and 
sending  her  home  rejoicing. 


•:o:- 


Lincoln  Threatens  a  Twenty  Years'  Agitation  in 

Illinois. 

One  afternoon  an  old  negro  woman  came  into  the  of- 
fice of  Lincoln  &  Herndon,  in  Springfield,  and  told  the 
story  of  her  trouble,  to  which  both  lawyers  listened.  It 
appeared  that  she  and  her  offspring  had  been  born  slaves 
in  Kentucky,  and  that  her  owner,  one  Hinkle,  had 
brought  the  whole  family  into  Illinois,  and  given  them 
them  their  freedom.      Her  son  had  gone  down  the  Mis- 


102  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

sissippi  as  a  waiter  or  deck  hand,  on  a  steamboat.  Ar- 
riving at  New  Orleans,  he  had  imprudently  gone  ashore, 
and  had  been  snatched  up  by  the  police,  in  accordance 
with  the  law  then  in  force  concerning  free  negroes  from 
other  States,  and  thrown  into  confinement.  Subsequent- 
ly, he  was  brought  out  and  tried.  Of  course  he  was 
fined,  and,  the  boat  having  left,    he  was  sold,  or  was  in 


W.    H.    HERNDON,    LINCOLN'S    LAW    PARTNER. 

immediate  danger  of  being  sold,  to  pay  his  fine  and  ex- 
penses. Mr.  Lincoln  was  very  much  moved,  and  re- 
quested Mr.  Herndon  to  go  over  to  the  State  House,  and 
inquire  of  Governor  Bissel  if  there  was  not  something  he 
could  do  to  obtain  possession  of  the  negro.  Mr.  Hern- 
don made  the  inquiry,  and  returned  with  the  report  that 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  103 

the  Governor  regretted  to  say  that  he  had  no  legal  or 
constitutional  right  to  do  anything  in  the  premises.  Mr. 
Lincoln  rose  to  his  feet  in  great  excitement  and  ex- 
claimed: 

"By  the  Almighty,  I'll  have  that  negro  back  here,  or 
I'll  have  a  twenty  years'  agitation  in  Illinois,  until  the 
Governor  does  have  a  legal  and  constitutional  right  to 
do  something  in  the  premises." 

He  was  saved  from  the  latter  alternative — at  least  in 

the  direct  form  which  he  proposed.     The  lawyers  sent 

money  to  a  New  Orleans  correspondent — money  of  their 

0Wn — who  procured  the  negro,  and  returned  him  to  his 

mother. 

:o: 

How  Lincoln  Always  Turned   a  Story   to  His 

Advantage. 

One  of  his  modes  of  getting  rid  of  troublesome  friends, 
as  well  as  troublesome  enemies,  was  by  telling  a  story. 
He  began  these  tactics  early  in  life;  and  he  grew  wonder- 
fully adept  in  them.  If  a  man  broached  a  subject  which 
he  did  not  wish  to  discuss,  he  told  a  story  which  chang- 
ed the  direction  of  the  conversation.  If  he  was  called 
upon  to  answer  a  question,  he  answered  it  by  telling  a 
story.  He  had  a  story  for  everything — something  had 
occurred  at  some  place  where  he  used  to  live,  that  illus- 
trated every  possible  phase  of  every  possible  subject 
with  which  he  might  have  connection.  His  faculty  of 
making  or  finding  a  story  to  match  every  event  in  his 
history,  and  every  event  to  which  he  bore  any  relation, 
was  really  marvelous. 

That  he  made,  or  adapted,  some  of  his  stories,  there 
is  no  question,      It  is  beyond  belief  that  those  which  en- 


104  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

tered  his  mind  left  it  no  richer  than  they  came.  It  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  he  spent  any  time  in  elaborating 
them,  but  by  some  law  of  association  every  event  that 
occurred  suggested  some  story,  and,  almost  by  an  invol- 
untary process,  his  mind  harmonized  their  discordant 
points,  and  the  story  was  pronounced  "pat,"  because  it 
was  made  so  before  it  was  uttered.  Every  truth,  or 
combination  of  truths,  seemed  immediately  to  clothe  it- 
self in  a  form  of  life,  where  he  kept  it  for  reference.  His 
mind  was  full  of  stories;  and  the  great  facts  of  his  life 
and  history  on  entering  his  mind  seemed  to  take  up  their 
abode  in  these  stories,  and  if  the  garment  did  not  fit  it 
was  so  modified  that  it  did . 

A  good  instance  of  the  execution  which  he  sometimes 
effected  with  a  story,  occurred  in  the  legislature.  There 
was  a  troublesome  member  from  Wabash  County,  who 
gloried  particularly  in  being  a  "strict  constructionist." 
He  found  something  "unconstitutional"  in  every  measure 
that  was  brought  forward  for  discussion.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Judiciary  Committee.  No  amount  of 
sober  argument  could  floor  the  member  from  Wabash. 
At  last  he  came  to  be  considered  a  man  to  be  silenced, 
and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  resorted  to  for  an  expedient  by 
which  this  object  might  be  accomplished.  He  soon 
honored  the  draft  thus  made  upon  him. 

A  measure  was  brought  forward  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln's 
constiuents  were  interested,  when  the  member  from 
Wabash  arose  and  discharged  all  his  batteries  upon  its 
unconstitutional  points.  Mr.  Lincoln  then  took  the 
floor,  and,  with  the  quizzical  expression  of  features  which 
he  could  assume  at  will,  and  a  mirthful  twinkle  in  hi? 
gray  eyes,  said: 


PROFESSIONAL   Lll 

-  rnber  from  W; 

upon  the  constitutionality  of  tl  reminds  me 

of  an  old  friend  of  mine.     He's   a   peculiar   looking  old 

fellow,  with  shaggy,  01 

of  •  j  ndcr   them,  ady  turned   to  the 

•     mber  from  Wabash,  and   ;••-••■  zed  a   persona] 

prion,)     One  morning  jnsf  aftei  ttu  old  mai  up, 

be  imagined,  on  looking  out  of  bis  door,   that  he  saw 
rather  a  lively  squirrel  on  a  I :■■  ■  house,      So    he 

took  down  his  rifle  and  fired  at  the  vjuirre!,  but  the  squir- 

paid  u  tion  to  the  shot.      He    loaded   and  fi 

,  until,    at    the    thirteenth   shot,    he    set 
impatiently  aid  to  his  boy,    wh 

looking  on: 

"  »Boy,  th<  •         mething  wrong  about  this  rift 

"  'Rifle's  all  right,  [know  I  tided  tl  ,  'but 

wh> 

••  'Don't  you  see  him,  humped   up  about  half  way  up 
the  treer  inquired  the  old  man,  pei  •        over  h: 
cles,  and  getting  mystified, 

"  'No  I   don't.  nded  the  boy;   and    then    turn 

and  looking  into  his  father's    face    he    exclaimed,     'J 
your  squirrel!      You've  been  firing  at  a  louse  on  your  < 
brow!' 

'J  he  story  needed  neither  application  nor    explanation. 
The  H  inconvul  f  laughter;   for   Mr.    Lin- 

coln's skill  in  telling  a  story  was  not  inferior  to  his  ap- 
preciation of  its  points  and  his  power  of  adapting  them 
to  the  case  in  hand.  It  killed  off  the  member  from 
Wabash,  who  was  ve;  ful  afterwards  not  to  provoke 

any  allusion  to  his  "eyebro 


106  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Hon.  Newton  Bateinan's  Thrilling  Story  of  Mr. 
Lincoln — The  Great  Man  Looking  to  See 
How  the  Springfield  Preachers 
Voted. 

At  the  time  of  Lincoln's  nomination,  at  Chicago,  Mr. 
Newton  Bateman,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 
for  the  State  of  Illinois,  occupied  a  room  adjoining  and 
opening  into  the  Executive  Chamber  at  Springfield. 
Frequently  this  door  was  open  during  Mr .  Lincoln's  re- 
ceptions, and  throughout  the  seven  months  or  more  of 
his  occupation,  he  saw  him  nearly  every  day.  Often 
when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  tired,  he  closed  the  door  against 
all  intruders,  and  called  Mr.  Bateman  into  his  room  for 
a  quiet  talk.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  Mr.  Lincoln 
took  up  a  book  containing  a  careful  canvass  of  the  city 
of  Springfield,  in  which  he  lived,  showing  the  candi- 
date for  whom  each  citizen  had  declared  it  his  intention 
to  vote  in  the  approaching  election.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
friends  had,  doubtless  at  his  own  request,  placed  the  re- 
sult of  the  canvass  in  his  hands.  This  was  towards  the 
close  of  October,  and  only  a  few  days  before  election. 
Calling  Mr.  Bateman  to  a  seat  by  his  side,  having  pre- 
viously locked  all  the  doors,  he  said: 

'Let  us  look  over  this  book;  I  wish  particularly  to  see 
how  the  ministers  of  Springfield  are  going  to  vote.' 

The  leaves  were  turned,  one  by  one,  and  as  the  names 
were  examined  Mr.  Lincoln  frequently  asked  if  this  one 
and  that  were  not  a  minister,  or  an  elder,  or  a  member 
of  such  or  such  church,  and  sadly  expressed  his  surprise 
on  receiving  an  affirmative  answer.  In  that  manner 
they  went  through  the  book,  and  then  he   closed  it  and 


Q 
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z 
J 
o 
o 
z 


w 
w 

i — i 

<  ' — ' 
o 

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108  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

sat  silently  for  some  minutes  regarding  a  memorandum 
in  pencil  which  lay  before  him.  At  length,  he  turned  to 
Mr.  Bateman,  with  a  face  full  of  sadness,  and  said: 

"Here  are  twenty-three  ministers  of  different  denom- 
inations, and  all  of  them  are  against  me  but  three,  and 
here  are  a  great  many  prominent  members  of  churches, 
a  very  large  majority  are  against  me.  Mr.  Bateman,  I 
am  not  a  Christian, — God  knows  I  would  be  one, — but 
I  have  carefully  read  the  Bible  and  I  do  not  so  under- 
stand this  book,'  and  he  drew  forth  a  pocket  New  Testa- 
ment. 'These  men  will  know,'  he  continued,  'that  I  am 
for  freedom  in  the  Territories,  freedom  everywhere  as 
free  as  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  will  permit,  and 
that  my  opponents  are  for  slavery.  They  know  this,  and 
yet,  with  this  book  in  their  hands,  in  the  light  of  which 
human  bondage  cannot  live  a  moment,  they  are  going  to 
vote  against  me;  I  do  not  understand  it  at  all.' 

"Here  Mr.  Lincoln  paused — paused  for  long  minutes, 
his  features  surcharged  with  emotion.  Then  he  rose  and 
walked  up  and  down  the  reception-room  in  the  effort  to 
retain  or  regain  his  self-possession.  Stopping  at  last  he 
said,  with  a  trembling  voice  and  cheeks  wet  with  tears:" 

"  'I  know  there  is  a  God,  and  that  he  hates  injustice 
and  slavery.  I  see  the  storm  coming,  and  I  know  that 
His  hand  is  in  it.  If  He  has  a  place  and  work  for  me, 
and  I  think  He  has,  I  believe  I  am  ready.  I  am  noth- 
ing, but  Truth  is  everything:  I  know  I  am  right,  be- 
cause I  know  that  liberty  is  right,  for  Christ  teaches  it, 
and  Christ  is  God.  I  have  told  them  that  a  house  div- 
ided against  itself  can  not  stand;  and  Christ  and  Reason 
say  the  same;  and  they  will  find  it  so.' 

11  'Douglas  don't  care  whether  slavery  is   voted    up  or 


PROFESSIONAL   LIFE.  IO9 

down,  but  God  cares,  and  humanity  cares,  and  I  care; 
and  with  God's  help  I  shall  not  fail.  I  may  not  see  the 
end;  but  it  will  come,  and  I  shall  be  vindicated;  and 
these  men  will  find  they  have  not  read  their  Bible  right. 

"Much  of  this  was  uttered  as  if  he  were  speaking  to 
himself,  and  with  a  sad,  earnest  solemnity  of  manner 
impossible  to  be  described.     After  a  pause,  he  resumed: 

"  'Dosen't  it  seem  strange  that  men  can  ignore  the 
moral  aspect  of  this  contest?  No  revelation  could  make 
it  plainer  to  me  that  slavery  or  the  Government  must  be 
destroyed .  The  future  would  be  something  awful,  as  I 
look  at  it,  but  for  this  rock  on  which  I  stand,'  (alluding 
to  the  Testament  which  he  still  held  in  his  hand,)  'es- 
pecially with  the  knowledge  of  how  these  ministers  are 
going  to  vote.  It  seems  as  if  God  had  borne  with  this 
thing  (slavery)  until  the  very  teachers  of  religion  had 
come  to  defend  it  from  the  Bible,  and  to  claim  for  it  a 
divine  character  and  sanction;  and  now  the  cup  of  in- 
iquity is  full,  and  the  vials  of  wrath  will  be  poured   out.' 

"Everything  he  said  was  of  a  peculiarly  deep,  tender, 
and  religious  tone,  and  all  was  tinged  with  a  touching 
melancholy.  He  repeatedly  referred  to  his  conviction 
that  the  day  of  wrath  was  at  hand,  and  that  he  was  to 
be  an  actor  in  the  terrible  struggle  which  would  issue  on 
the  overthrow  of  slavery,  although  he  might  not  live  to 
see  the  end. 

"After  further  reference  to  a  belief  in  the  Divine 
Providence,  and  the  fact  of  God  in  history,  the  conver- 
sation turned  upon  prayer.  He  freely  stated  his  belief 
in  the  duty,  privilege,  and  efficacy  of  prayer,  and  intim- 
ated, in  no  unmistakable  terms,  that  he  had  sought  in 
that  way  the  Divine  guidance  and  favor.     The  effect  of 


IIO  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

this  conversation  upon  the  mind  of  Mr.  Bateman,  a 
Christian  gentleman  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  profoundly  re- 
spected, was  to  convince  him  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had,  in  a 
quiet  way,  found  a  path  to  the  Christian  standpoint — 
that  he  had  found  God,  and  rested  on  the  eternal  truth 
of  God.  As  the  two  men  were  about  to  separate,  Mr. 
Bateman  remarked: 

"  'I  have  not  supposed  that  you  were  accustomed  to 
think  so  much  upon  this  class  of  subjects;  cetainly  your 
friends  generally  are  ignorant  of  the  sentiments  you  have 
expressed  to  me.' 

"He  replied  quickly:  'I  know  they  are,  but  I  think 
more  on  these  subjects  than  upon  all  others,  and  I  have 
done  so  for  years;  and  I  am  willing  you  should  know  it.' " 


When  his  clients  had  practiced  gross  deception  upon 
him,  Mr.  Lincoln  forsook  their  cases  in  mid-passage; 
and  he  always  refused  to  accept  fees  of  those  whom  he 
advised  not  to  prosecute.  On  one  occasion,  while  en- 
gaged upon  an  important  case,  he  discovered  that  he 
was  on  the  wrong  side.  His  associate  in  the  case  was 
immediately  informed  that  he  (Lincoln)  would  not  make 
the  plea.  The  associate  made  it,  and  the  case,  much  to 
the  surprise  of  Lincoln,  was  decided  for  his  client.  Per- 
fectly convinced  that  his  client  was  wrong,  he  would  not 
receive  one  cent  of  the  fee  of  nine  hundred  dollars  which 
he  paid.  It  is  not  wonderful  that  one  who  knew  him 
well  spoke  of  him  as  "perversely  honest. 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  Ill 

Lincolns  Visit  to  Kansas. 

Captain  J.  R.  Fitch,  of  Evanston,  111.,  in  a  contribution 
to  the  N.  \V.  Christion  Advocate,  gives  a  very  interesting 
account  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  visit  to  Kansas,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

In  the  winter  of  1859,  shortly  after  the  memorable  con- 
test between  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
for  the  United  States  Senate,  jn  which,  although  Illi- 
nois had  given  a  Republican  majority  of  4,000  votes, 
the  Democrats  secured  a  majority  of  the  Legislature  on 
joint  ballot,  thereby  securing  the  election  of  the  minor- 
ity candidate,  an  invitation  was  extended  to  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  pay  a  visit  to  the  then  Territoryof  Kansas. 

Mr.  Lincoln  graciously  accepted  the  invitation,  and  ap- 
pointed a  time  convenient  for  him  to  come.  A  commit- 
tee was  appointed  to  meet  him  at  the  nearest  railroad 
station,  which  was  in  Missouri  between  St.  Joseph  and 
Neston. 

If  my  memory  serves  me,  the  committee  consisted  of 
Mark  W.  Delahay,  afterwards  United  States  District 
Judge;  D.  J.  Brewer,  now  one  of  the  Associate  Justices 
of  the  Supreme  Court;  Hon.  Henry  J.  Adams,  Uncle 
George  Keller,  Josiah  H.  Kellogg,  and  myself.  On  the 
appointed  day  we  met  Mr.  Lincoln  at  the  station  with  car- 
riages and  drove  down  to  Leavenworth  city. 

In  the  evening  a  meeting  was  held  in  Stockton's  hall. 
The  hall  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity,  and  when 
Mr.  Lincoln  rose  to  speak  he  seemed  to  unwind  himself, 
and,  as  he  straightened  himself  up,  he  reminded  me  of 
a  telescope  being  opened  out,  joint  by  joint.  He  stood 
there  at  first  like  a  whipped  boy  at  school,  the  most  awk- 


112  LINCOLN  S    STORIES   AND    SPEECHES. 

ward  specimen  of  humanity  it  had  ever  been  my  pleasure 
to  look  upon. 

When  he  began  his  address,  however,  the  impression 
was  instantaneous  that  an  orator  was  talking — a  man 
who  thoroughly  believed  every  word  he  was  saying.  The 
audience  was  spellbound  as  he  told  of  the  crimes  com- 
mitted for  the  perpetuation  of  slavery. 

The  pro-slavery  Democrats  had  secured  seats  for  them- 
selves in  one  part  of  the  hall.  Among  them  was  a 
Presbyterian  minister  from  Kentucky,  a  fine  looking  but 
very  vain  man. 

After  Mr.  Lincoln  had  poured  his  hot  shot  into  the  pro- 
slavery  party  as  long  as  the  minister,  whose  name  was 
Pitzer,  could  stand  it,  he  rose  and  called  out  in  a  loud 
voice: 

"How  about  amalgamation?" 

Mr.  Lincoln,  turning  toward  him,  said: 

"I'll  attend  to  you  in  a  minute,  young  man,"  then 
went  on  and  finished  his  sentence.  Then,  turning  to 
where  Mr.  Pitzer  had  been  standing,  said: 

"  Where  is  the  young  man  who  asked  me  about  amal- 
gamation?" 

Mr.  Pitzer  rose  in  all  dignity,  and  in  a  tone  of  voice  that 
seemed  to  say:  "Watch  me  squelch  him,"  replied,  "lam 
the  gentleman." 

Mr.  Lincoln,  pointing  his  long,  bony  finger  at  him, 
and  swinging  his  arm  up  and  down,  replied: 

"  I  never  knew  but  one  decent,  respectable  white  man 
to  marry  a  colored  woman,  and  that  was  an  ex-Demo- 
cratic Vice-president  from  the  State  of  Kentucky." 

Mr.  Pitzer  turned,  and  with  the  exclamation  of,  "I 
never  heard  Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson  so  insulted  be- 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  113 

fore,"  made  his  way  out  of  the  hall  amid  the  jeers  and 
gibes  of  the  crowd. 

Whether  Mr.  Lincoln  knew  that  Mr.  Pitzer  was  from 
Kentucky  or  not  I  never  knew,  but  all  Democrats  and 
Republicans  alike  felt  that  the  rebuke  was  well  mer- 
ited. 

After  the  meeting  was  over,  Mr.  Lincoln  and  friends 
were  invited  to  the  home  of  Judge  Delahay,  where  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  entertained.  We  had  refreshments,  includ- 
ing wine,  of  which  almost  everyone,  except  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, partook. 

The  next  day  we  escorted  him  back  to  the  train,  and 
to  my  dying  day  I  shall  never  forget  our  parting.  I  was 
only  twenty-two  years  old. 

Mr.  Lincoln  bade  each  one  good-bye,  and  gave  each 
a  hearty  grasp  of  the  hand.  He  bade  me  good-bye  last, 
and  as  he  took  my  hand  in  both  of  his,  and  stood  there 
towering  above  me,  he  looked  down  into  my  eyes  with 
that  sad,  kindly  look  of  his,  and  said: 

"  My  young  friend,  do  not  put  an  enemy  in  your  mouth 
to  steal  away  your  brains." 

At  that  moment  I  thought  I  never  should  again. 

And,  oh,  how  that  look  haunted  me  in  after  years  before 
I  knew  the  better  way,  when  in  my  moments  of  weakness 
I  was  tempted  to  put  the  intoxicating  cup  to  my  lips. 

And  though  those  loving  eyes  are  closed  in  death,  yet 
that  look  is  never  very  far  from  me.  It  is  with  me  now 
while  I  pen  these  lines;  it  is  photographed  on  my  heart, 
a  blessed  memory  of  our  martyred  President. 

:o: 


ii4 


LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 


Lincoln  and  the  Little  Chicago  Girls. 

Mr.  Lincoln  made  a  hurried  trip  to  Chicago  on  busi- 
ness, and  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm  by  Demo- 
crats as  well  as  Republicans.  At  the  house  of  a  friend 
he  beholds  a  group  of  little  girls.  One  of  them  gazes  at 
him  wistfully. 

"What  is  it  you  would  like,  dear?  " 

"  I  would  like,  if  you  please,  to  have  you  write  your 
name  for  me." 

"  But  here  are  several  of  your  mates,  quite  a  number 
of  them,  and  they  will  feel  badly  if  I  write  my  name  for 
you  and  not  for  them  also.  How  many  are  there,  all 
told?" 

"Eight  of  us." 

"  Oh,  very  well;  then  give  me  eight  slips  of  paper  and 
pen  and  ink,  and  I  will  see  what  I  can  do." 

Eeach  of  the  little  misses,  when  she  went  home  that 
evening  carried  his  autograph. 

:o: 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  I  I  5 

Why  Mr.  Lincoln  Let  His  Whiskers  Grow. 

If  we  had  been  in  the  village  of  Westfield,  on  the  shore 
of  Lake  Erie,  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  on  an  Octo- 
ber evening,  we  might  have  seen  little  Grace  Bedell  look- 
ing at  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  a  picture  of  the  log 
cabin  which  he  helped  build  for  his  father  in  1830. 

"Mother,"  said  Grace,  "I  think  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
would  look  better  if  he  wore  whiskers,  and  I  mean  to  write 
and  tell  him  so." 

"Well,  you  may.  if  you  want  to,"  the  mother  an- 
swered. 

Grace's  father  was  a  Republican  and  was  going  to  vote 
for  Mr.  Lincoln.  Two  older  brothers  were  Democrats, 
but  she  was  a  Republican . 

Among  the  letters  going  West  the  next  day  was  one 
with  this  inscription: 

"Hon.  Abraham  Lincoln,  Esq.,  Springfield,  Illinois." 

It  was  Grace's  letter,  telling  him  how  old  she  was, 
where  she  lived,  that  she  was  a  Republican,  that  she 
thought  he  would  make  a  good  President,  but  would  look 
better  if  he  would  let  his  whiskers  grow.  If  he  would 
she  would  try  to  coax  her  brothers  to  vote  for  him.  She 
thought  the  rail  fence  around  the  cabin  very  pretty. 

"  If  you  have  not  time  to  answer  my  letter,  will  you 
allow  your  little  girl  to  reply  for  you?"  wrote  Grace  at 
the  end. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  sitting  in  his  room  at  the  State  house 
with  a  great  pile  of  letters  before  him  from  the  leading 
Republicans  all  over  the  Northern  States  in  regard  to  the 
progress  of  the  campaign;  letters  from  men  who  would 
want  an  office  after  his  inauguration;  letters  abusive  and 


u6  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

indecent,  which  were  tossed  into  the  waste  basket.  He 
came  to  one  from  Westfield,  N.  Y.  It  was  not  from  any- 
one who  wanted  an  office,  but  from  a  little  girl  who 
wanted  him  to  let  his  whiskers  grow.  That  was  a  letter 
which  he  must  answer, 

A  day  or  two  later  Grace  Bedell  comes  out  of  the  West- 
field  postoffice  with  a  letter  in  her  hand  postmarked 
Springfield,  111.  Her  pulse  beat  as  never  before.  It  is 
a  cold  morning — the  wind  blowing  bleak  and  chill  across 
the  tossing  waves  of  the  lake.  Snowflakes  are  falling. 
She  cannot  wait  till  she  reaches  home,  but  tears  open  the 
letter.  The  melting  flakes  blur  the  writing,  but  this  is 
what  she  reads: 

"Springfield,  III.,  Oct.  19,  i860. 
Miss  Grace  Bedell: 

My  Dear  Little  Miss— Your  very  agreeable  letter  of  the 
1  5th  is  received.  I  regret  the  necessity  of  saying  I  have 
no  daughter.  I  have  three  sons,  one  seventeen, 
one  nine,  and  one  seven  years  of  age.  They, 
with  their  mother,  constitute  my  whole  family.  As  to  the 
whiskers,  having  never  worn  any,  do  you  not  think  peo- 
ple would  call  it  a  piece  of  silly  affection  (affectation)  if  I 
should  begin  it  now? 

Your  very  sincere  well-wisher, 

A.  Lincoln." 

It  was  natural  that  the  people  should  desire  to  see  the 
man  who  had  been  elected  President,  and  the  route  to 
Washington  was  arranged  to  take  in  a  number  of  the 
large  cities — Indianapolis,  Cincinnati,  Columbus,  Pitts- 
burg, Cleveland  and  Buffalo.  In  each  of  these  he  spent 
a  night  and  addressed  great, crowds   of    people.      When 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  I  I  7 

the  train   left   Cleveland,   Mr.  Patterson,    of  Westfield, 
was  invited  into  Mr.  Lincoln's  car. 

"  Did  I  understand  that  your  home  is  in  Westfield?" 
Mr.  Lincoln  asked. 

"Yes,  sir,  that  is  my  home." 

"  Oh,  by  the  way,  do  you  know  of  anyone  living  there 
by  the  name  of  Bedell?" 

"Yes,  sir,  I  know  the  family  very  well." 

41 1  have  a  corresdondent  in  that  family.  Mr.  Bedell's 
little  girl,  Grace,  wrote  me  a  very  interesting  letter  ad- 
vising me  to  wear  whiskers,  as  she  thought  it  would  im- 
prove my  looks.  You  see  that  I  have  followed  her  sug- 
gestion. Her  letter  was  so  unlike  many  that  I  have  re- 
ceived— some  that  threatened  assassination  in  case  I 
was  elected — that  it  was  really  a  relief  to  receive  it  and 
a  pleasure  to  answer  it." 

The  train  reached  Westfield,  and  Mr.  LincDln  stood 
upon  the  platform  of  the  car  to  say  a  few  words  to  the 
people. 

"  I  have  a  little  correspondent  here,  Grace  Bedell,  and 
if  the  little  miss  is  present  I  would  like  to  see  her." 

Grace  was  far  down  the  platform,  and  the  crowd  pre- 
vented her  seeing  or  hearing  him  . 

"Grace,  Grace,  the  President  is  calling  for  you!"  they 
shouted. 

A  friend  made  his  way  with  her  through  the  crowd. 

"  Here  she  is." 

Mr.  Lincoln  stepped  down  from  the  car,  took  her  by 
the  hand,  and  gave  her  a  kiss. 

"You see,  Grace,  I  have  let  my  whiskers  grow  for 
you." 


1 1 8  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

The  kinldy  smile  was  upon  his  face.  The  train  whirled 
on.  His  heart  was  lighter.  For  one  brief  moment  he 
had  forgotten  the  burdens  that   were    pressing  on  him. 

:o: 


m  i  "    m 


JOHN  HANKS,   LINCOLN'S  RAIL-SPLITTING  COMPANION. 

Lincoln's  Simplicity. 

It  was  during  the  dark  days  of  1863,  says  Schuyler 
Colfax,  on  the  evening  of  a  public  reception  given  at  the 
White  House.  The  foreign  legations  were  there  gathered 
about  the   President. 


PROFESSIONAL    LIFE.  I  I  9 

A  young  English  nobleman  was  just  being  presented  to 
the  President.  Inside  the  door,  evidently  overawed  by 
the  splendid  assemblage,  was  an  honest-faced  old  farmer, 
who  shrank  from  the  passing  crowd  until  he  and  the 
plain-faced  old  lady  clinging  to  his  arm  were  pressed  back 
to  the  wall. 

The  President,  tall  and,  in  a  measure,  stately  in  his 
personal  presence,  looking  over  the  heads  of  the  assem- 
bly, said  to  the  English  nobleman:  "Excuse  me,  my 
Lord,  there's  an  old  friend  of  mine." 

Passing  backward  to  the  door,  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  as  he 
grasped  the  old  farmer's  hand: 

"Why,  John,  I'm  glad  to  see  you.  I  haven't  seen  you 
since  you  and  I  made  rails  for  old  Mrs. in  Sanga- 
mon county,  in  1837.      How  are  you  ?" 

The  old  man  turned  to  his  wife  with  quivering  lip,  and 
without    replying    to    the     President's    salutation,    said: 

"Mother,  he's  just  the  same  old  Abe  !" 

"Mr.  Lincoln,"  he  said  finally,  "you  know  we  had 
three  boys;  they  all  enlisted  in  the  same  company;  John 
was  killed  in  the  'seven  days'  fight;'  Sam  was  taken 
prisoner  and  starved  to  death,  and  Henry  is  in  the  hos- 
pital.  We  had  a  little  money,  an'  I  said:  'Mother, 
we'll  go  to  Washington  an'  see  him.  An'  while  we  were 
here  I  said  we'll  go  up  and  see  the  President." 

Mr.  Lincoln's  eyes  grew  dim,  and  across  his  rugged, 
homely,  tender  face  swept  the  wave  of  sadness  his  friends 
had  learned  to  know,  and  he  said:  "John,  we  all  hope 
this  miserable  war  will  soon  be  over. 

I  must  see  all  these  folks  here  for  an  hour  or  so  and  I 
want  to  talk  with  you."  The  old  lady  and  her  husband 
were  hustled  into  a  private  room  in  spite  of  their  protests. 


[UNITED  ST4TSS  CAPITOL.) 


[I  20] 


WHITE  HOUSE  INCIDENTS. 


Trying  the  "Greens"  on  Jake. 

A  deputation  of  bankers  were  one  day  introduced  to 
the  President  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.      One  of 

the  party,  Mr.  P of  Chelsea.  Mass.,    took  occasion 

to  refer  to  the  severity  of  the  tax  laid  by  Congress    upon 
State  Banks . 

"Now,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "that  reminds  me  of  a  cir 
cumstance  that  took  place  in  a  neighborhood  where  I 
lived  when  I  was  a  boy.  In  the  spring  of  the  year  the 
farmers  were  very  fond  of  a  dish  which  they  called 
greens,  though  the  fashionable  name  for  it  now-a-days 
is  spinach,  I  believe.  One  day  after  dinner,  a  large  fam- 
ily were  taken  very  ill.  The  doctor  was  called  in,  who 
attributed  it  to  the  greens,  of  which  all  had  frequently 
partaken.  Living  in  the  family  was  a  half-witted  boy 
named  Jake.  On  a  subsequent  occasion,  when  greens 
had  been  gathered  for  dinner,  the  head  of  the  house 
said: 

"  'Now,  boys,  before  running  any  further  risk  in  this 
thing,  we  will  first  try  them  on  Jake,  If  he  stands  it, 
we  are  all  right.' 

[121] 


122  LINXOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

"And  just  so,    I  suppose,"   said    Mr.    Lincoln,    "Con- 
gress thought   it  would  try  this  tax  on  State  Banks!" 


:o: 


A  Story  Which  Lincoln  Told  the  Preachers. 

A  year  or  more  before  Mr.  Lincoln's  death,  a  delega- 
tion of  clergymen  waited  upon  him  in  reference  to  the 
appointment  of  the  army  chaplains  The  delegation 
consisted  of  a  Presbyterian,  a  Baptist,  and  an  Episcopal 
clergyman.  They  stated  that  the  character  of  many  of 
the  chaplains  was  notoriously  bad,  and  they  had  come 
to  urge  upon  the  President  the  necessity  of  more  discre- 
tion in  these  appointments. 

"But,  gentlemen,"  said  the  President,  that  is  a  matter 
which  the  Government  has  nothing  to  do  with;  the  chap- 
lains are  chosen  by  the  regiments." 

Not  satisfied  with  this,  the  clergymen  pressed,  in  turn, 
a  change  in  the  system.  Mr.  Lincoln  heard  them 
through  without  remark,  and  then  said,  '  'Without  any 
disrespect,  gentlemen,  I  will  tell  you  a  'little  story.' 

'  'Once,  in  Springfield,  I  was  going  off  on  a  short  jour- 
ney, and  reached  the  depot  a  little  ahead  of  time. 
Leaning  against  the  fence  just  outside  the  depot  was  a 
little  darkey  boy,  whom  I  knew,  named  'Dick,'  busily 
digging  with  his  toe  in  a  mud-puddle.  As  I  came  up,  I 
said,  'Dick,  what  are  you  about?' 

"  'Making  a  church,'  said  he. 

"  'A  church,' said  I;  'what  do  you  mean?' 

"  'Why,  yes,'  said  Dick,  pointing  with  his  toe,  'don't 
you  see  there  is  the  shape  of  it;  there's  the  steps  and 
frontdoor — here  the  pews,  where  the  folks  set — and 
there's  the  pulpit.' 


■WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  123 

"  Yes,  I  see,'  said  I;  'but  why  don't  you  make  a  min- 
ister?' 

"  'Laws,' answered  Dick,  with  a  grin,  'I  hain't  got 
mud  enough.'  " 


:o: 


How  Lincoln  Stood  Up  for   the   Word  "Sugar- 
Coated." 

Mr.  Defrees,  the  Government  printer,  states,  that, 
when  one  of  the  President's  message  was  being  printed, 
he  was  a  good  deal  disturbed  by  the  use  of  the  term 
' 'sugar-coated,"  and  finally  went  to  Mr.  Lincoln  about 
it.  Their  relations  to  each  other  being  of  the  most  in- 
timate character,  he  told  the  President  frankly,  that  he 
ought  to  remember  that  a  message  to  Congress  was  a 
different  affair  from  a  speech  at  a  mass  meeting  in  Illi- 
nois; that  the  messages  became  a  part  of  history,  and 
should  be  written  accordingly. 

"What  is  the  matter  now?"  inquired  the  President. 

''Why,"  said  Mr.  Defrees,  "you  have  used  an  undig- 
nified expression  in  the  message;"  and  then,  reading  the 
paragraph  aloud,  he  added,  "I  would  alter  the  structure 
of  that  if  I  were  you." 

"Defrees,"  replied  Mr.  Lincoln,  "that  word  expresses 
exactly  my  idea,  and  I  am  not  going  to  change  it.  The 
time  will  never  come  in  this  country  when  the  people 
won't  know  exactly  what  'sugar-coated'  means.' 

On  a  subsequent  occasion,  Mr.  Defrees  states  that  a 
certain  sentence  of  another  message  was  very  awkwardly 
constructed.  Calling  the  President's  attention  to  it  in 
the  proof-copy,  the  latter  acknowledged  the  force  of  the 


124  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

objection  raised,  and  said,  "Go  home,  Defrees,  and  see 
if  you  can  better  it." 

The  next  day  Mr,  Dufrees  took  into  him  his  amend- 
ment.     Mr.  Lincoln  met  him  by  saying: 

"Seward  found  the  same  fault  that  you  did,  and  he 
has  been  rewriting  the  paragraph,  also."  Then,  reading 
Mr.  Defrees'  version,  he  said,  "I  believe  you  have 
beaten  Seward;  but,  'I  jings,'  I  think  I  can  beat  you 
both."  Then,  taking  up  his  pen,  he  wrote  the  sentence 
as  it  was  finally  printed. 

:o: - 

Lincoln's  Advice  to  a  Prominent  Bachelor. 

Upon  the  bethrothal  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  the 
Princess  Alexandra,  Queen  Victoria  sent  a  letter  to  each 
of  the  European  sovereigns,  and  also  to  President  Lin- 
coln, announcing  the  fact.  Lord  Lyons,  her  ambassa- 
dor at  Washington, — a  "bachelor,"  by  the  way, — re- 
quested an  audience  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  that  he  might  pre- 
sent this  important  document  in  person.  At  the  time 
appointed  he  was  received  at  the  White  House,  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Seward. 

"May  it  please  your  Excellency,"  said  Lord  Lyons, 
"I  hold  in  my  hand  an  autograph  letter  from  my  royal 
mistress,  Queen  Victoria,  which  I  have  been  commanded 
to  present  to  your  Excellency.  In  it  she  informs  your 
Excellency  that  her  son,  his  Royal  Highness  tbe  Prince 
of  Wales,  is  about  to  contract  a  matrimonial  alliance 
with  her  Royal  Highness  the  Princess  Alexander  of  Den- 
mark. " 

After  continuing  in  this  strain  for  a  few  minutes,  Lord 
Lyons  tendered   the  letter  to    the  President  and  awaited 


WHITE  HOUSE  INCIDENTS. 


125 


his    reply.      It  was    short,    simple,  and    expressive,   and 
consisted  simply  of  the  words: 

"Lord  Lyons,  go  thou  and  do  likewise." 
It  is  doubtful  if  an  English  embassador  was  ever  ad- 
dressed in  this  manner  before,  and  it  would  be  interest- 
ing to  learn  what  success  he  met  with  in  putting  the 
reply  in  diplomatic  language  when  he  reported  it  to  her 
Majesty. 


-:o:- 


Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  Bashful  Boys. 

The  President  and  a  friend  were  standing    upon    the 
threshold   of   the  door  under  the  portico    of  the   White 


House,  awaiting  the  coachman,  when  a  letter  was  put 
into  his  hand.  While  he  was  reading  this,  people  were 
passing,  as  is  customary,  up  and  down  the  promenade, 
which  leads  through  the  grounds  of  the  War  Department, 
crossing,  of  course,  the  portico.  Attention  was  attracted 
to  an  approaching  party,  apparently  a  countryman,  plainly 


126  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

dressed,  with  his  wife  and  two  little  boys,  who  had  evi- 
dently been  straying  about,  looking  at  the  places  of  pub- 
lic interest  in  the  city.  As  they  reached  the  portico  the 
father,  who  was  in  advance,  caught  sight  of  the  tall 
figure  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  absorbed  in  his  letter.  His  wife 
and  the  little  boys  were  ascending  the  steps . 

The  man  stopped  suddenly,  put  out  his  hand  with  a 
"hush"  to  his  family,  and,  after  a  moment's  gaze,  he 
bent  down  and  whispered  to  them,  "There  is  the  Presi- 
dent !"  Then  leaving  them,  he  slowly  made  a  circuit 
around  Mr.  Lincoln,  watching  him  intently  all  the  while. 

At  this  point,  having  finished  his  letter,  the  President 
turned  and  said:  "Well,  we  will  not  wait  any  longer 
for  the  carriage;  it  won't  hurt  you  and  me  to  walk  down." 

The  countryman  here  approached  very  diffidently,  and 
asked  if  he  might  be  allowed  to  take  the  President  by 
the  hand;  after  which,  "Would  he  extend  the  same 
privilege  to  his  wife  and  little  boys  ?" 

Mr.  Lincoln,  good-naturedly,  approached  the  latter, 
who  had  remained  where  they  were  stopped,  and,  reach- 
ing down,  said  a  kind  word  to  the  bashful  little  fellows, 
who  shrank  close  up  to  their  mother,  and  did  not  reply. 
This  simple  act  filled  the  father's  cup  full. 

"The  Lord  is  with  you,  Mr.  President,"  he  said,  rever- 
ently; and  then,  hesitating  a  moment,  he  added,  with 
strong  emphasis,  "and  the  people,  too,  sir;  and  the  peo- 
ple,  too  !" 

A  few  moments  later  Mr.  Lincoln  remarked  to  his 
friend:  "Great  men  have  various  estimates.  When 
Daniel  Webster  made  his  tour  throgh  the  West  years 
ago,  he  visited  Springfield  among  other  places,  where 
great  preparations  had   been  made  to  receive  him.      As 


WHITE  HOUSE  INCIDENTS.  127 

the  procession  was  going  through  the  town,  a  barefooted 
little  darkey  boy  pulled  the  sleeve  of  a  man  named  T. , 
and  asked: 

"  'What  the  folks  were  all  doing  down  the  street  ?' 

"  'Why,  Jack,'  was  the  reply,  'the  biggest  man  in  the 
world  is  coming.' 

"Now,  there    lived  in    Springfield  a  man  by  the  name 

of  G ,  a  very  corpulent  man.      Jack  darted  off  down 

the  street,  but  presently  returned,  with  a  very  disap- 
pointed air. 

"  'Well,  did  you  see  him  ?'  inquired  T. 

"  'Yees,'  returned  Jack;  'but  laws  he  ain't  half  as  big 
as  old  G.',' 


:o:- 


An     Irish    Soldier     Who     Wanted     Something 
Stronger  Than    Soda   Water. 

Upon  Mr.  Lincoln's  return  to  Washington,  after  the 
capture  of  Richmond,  a  member  of  the  Cabinet  asked 
him  if  it  would  be  proper  to  permit  Jacob  Thompson  to 
slip  through  Maine  in  disguise,  and  embark  from  Port- 
land. The  President,  as  usual,  was  disposed  to  be  merci- 
ful, and  to  permit  the  arch-rebel  to  pass  unmolested,  but 
the  Secretary  urged  that  he  should  be  arrested  as  a 
traitor.  "By  permitting  him  to  escape  the  penalties  of 
treason,"  persistently  remarked  the  Secretary,  "you  sanc- 
tion it."  "Well,"  replied  Mr.  Liucoln,  "let  me  tell  you 
a  story. 

"There  was  an  Irish  soldier  here  last  summer,  who 
wanted  something  to  drink  stronger  than  water,  and 
stopped  at  a  drug-shop,  where  he  espied  a  soda- 
fountain. 


128  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

"  'Mr.  Doctor  said  he,  'give  me,  plase,  a  glass  of  soda 
wather,  an'  if  yees  can  put  in  a  few  drops  of  whisky  un- 
beknown to  any  one,  I'll  be  obleeged. ' 

"Now,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  if  Jake  Thompson  is  per- 
mitted to  go  through  Maine  unbeknown  to  any  one, 
what's  the  harm  ?     So  don't  have  him  arrested." 

:o: 


Looking  Out  for  Breakers. 

In  a  time  of  despondency,  some  visitors  were  telling  the 
President  of  the  "breakers"  so  often  seen  ahead —  "this 
time  surely  coming."  "That,"  said  he,  "suggests  the 
story  of  the  school-boy,  who  never  could  pronounoe  the 
names  'Shadrach,'  'Meshach,' and  'Abednego.'  He  had 
been  repeatedly  whipped  for  it  without  effect.  Some 
times  afterwards  he  saw  the  names  of  the  regular  lesson 
for  the  day.  Putting  his  finger  upon  the  place,  he 
turned  to  his  next  neighbor,  an  older  boy,  and  whispered, 
'Here  comes  those  "tormented  Hebrews"  again  !" 

:o: 

A  Story  About  Jack  Chase. 

A  farmer  from  one  of  the  border  counties  went  to  the 
President  on  a  certain  occasion  with  the  complaint  that 
the  Union  soldiers  in  passing  his  farm  had  helped  them- 
selves not  only  to  hay  but  to  his  horse;  and  he  hoped  the 
proper  officer  would  be  required  to  consider  his  claim  im- 
mediately. 

"Why,  my  good  sir,"  replied  Mr.  Lincoln,  "if  I  should 
attempt  to  consider  every  such  individual  case,  I  should 
find  work  enough  for  twenty  Presidents  ! 

"In  my  early  days  I  knew  one  Jack  Chase  who  was  a 
lumberman   on  the  Illinois,   and  when  steady  and  sober 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  1 29 

the  best  raftsman  on  the  river.  It  was  quite  a  trick 
twenty-five  years  ago  to  take  the  logs  over  the  rapids, 
but  he  was  skillful  with  a  raft,  and  always  kept  her 
straight  in  the  channel.  Finally  a  steamer  was  put  on, 
and  Jack — he's  dead  now,  poor  fellow  ! — was  made  cap- 
tain of  her.  He  always  used  to  take  the  wheel  going 
through  the  rapids.  One  day  when  the  boat  was  plung- 
ing and  wallowing  along  the  boiling  current,  and  Jack's 
utmost  vigilance  was  being  exercised  to  keep  her  in  the 
narrow  channel,  a  boy  pulled  his  coat-tail  and  hailed 
him  with:  'Say,  Mister  Captain  !  I  wish  you  would  just 
stop  your  boat  a  minute — I've  lost  an  apple  overboard  !' 


-:o:- 


Stories  Illustrating  Lincoln's  Memory. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  memory  was  very  remarkable.  At  one 
of  the  afternoon  receptions  at  the  White  House  a 
stranger  shook  hands  with  him,  and  as  he  did  so  re- 
marked, casually,  that  he  was  elected  to  Congress  about 
the  time  Mr.  Lincon's  term  as  representative  expired, 
which  happened  many  years  before. 

"Yes,  '  said  the  President,  "you  are  from ,"  men- 
tioning the  state.  "I  remember  reading  of  your  election 
in  a  newspaper  one  morning  on  a  steamboat  going  down 
to  Mount  Vernon." 

At  another  time  a  gentleman  addressed  him,  saying, 
"I  presume,  Mr.  President,  you  have  forgotten  me  ?" 

"No,"  was  the  prompt  reply;  "your  name  is  Flood.  I 
.saw  you  last,  twelve  years  ago  at  — ,"  naming  the  place 
and  the  occasion.  "I  am  glad  to  see,"  he  continued, 
"that  the  Flood  flows  on," 

Subsequent  to  his  re-election  a  deputation  of  bankers 


130  LINCOLN'S   STORIES   AND    SPEECHES. 

from  various  sections  were  introduced  one  day  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  After  a  few  moments  of  gen- 
eral conversation,  Mr.  Lincoln  turned  to  one  of  them  and 
said:  "Your  district  did  not  give  me  so  strong  a  vote  at 
the  last  election  as  it  did  in  i860." 

':I  think,  sir,  that  you  must  be  mistaken,"  replied  the 
banker.  "I  have  the  impression  that  your  majority  was 
considerably  increased  at  the  last  election," 

"No,"  rejoined  the  President,  "you  fell  off  about  six 
hundred  votes."  Then  taking  down  from  the  bookcase 
the  official  canvass  of  i860  and  1864  he  referred  to  the 
vote  or  the  district  named  and  proved  to  be  quite  right 
in  his  assertion. 


:o: 


Philosophy  of  Canes. 

A  gentleman  calling  at  the  White  House  one  evening 
carried  a  cane  which  in  the  course  of  conversation  at- 
tracted the  President's  attention.  Taking  it  in  his  hand 
he  said:  "I  always  used  a  cane  when  I  was  a  boy.  It 
was  a  freak  of  mine.  My  favorite  one  was  a  knotted 
beech  stick,  and  I  carved  the  head  myself.  There's  a 
mighty  amount  of  character  in  sticks.  Don't  you  think 
so  ?  You  have  seen  these  fishing-polls  that  fit  into  a 
cane  ?  Well,  that  was  an  old  idea  of  mine.  Dogwood 
clubs  were  favorite  ones  with  the  boys.  I  suppose  they 
use  them  yet.  Hickory  is  too  heavy,  unless  you  get  it 
from  a  young  sapling.  Have  you  ever  noticed  how  a 
stick  in  one's  hand  will  change  his  appearance  ?  Old 
women  and  witches  wouldn't  look  so  without  sticks. 
Meg  Merrilies  understands  that." 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  131 

Common  Sense. 

The  Hon.  Mr,  Hubbard,  of  Connecticut,  once  called 
upon  the  President  in  reference  to  a  newly  invented  gun, 
concerning  which  a  committee  had  been  appointed  to 
make  a  report . 

The  "report"  was  sent  for,  and  when  it  came  in  was 
found  to  be  of  the  most  voluminous  description.  Mr. 
Lincoln  glanced  at  it  and  said:  "I  should  want  a  new 
lease  of  life  to  read  this  through  !"  Throwing  it  down 
upon  the  table  he  added:  "Why  can't  a  committee  of 
this  kind  occasionally  exhibit  a  grain  of  common  sense  ? 
If  I  send  a  man  to  buy  a  horse  for  me,  I  expect  him  to 
tell  me  his  points — not  how  many  hairs  there  are  in  his 
tail." 


-:o:- 


Lincoln's  Confab  with  a  Committee  on  "Grant's 

Whisky." 

Just  previous  to  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  a  self-constituted 
committee,  solicitous  for  the  morale  of  our  armies,  took 
it  upon  themselves  to  visit  the  President  and  urge  theje- 
moval  of  General  Grant. 

In  some  surprise  Mr.  Lincoln  inquired,  "For  what  rea- 
son ?" 

"Why,"  replied  the  spokesman,  "he  drinks  too  much 
whisky." 

"Ah  !"  rejoined  Mr.  Lincoln,  dropping  his  lower  lip. 
"By  the  way,  gentlemen,  can  either  of  you  tell  me  where 
General  Grant  procures  his  whisky  ?  because,  if  I  can 
find  out,  I  will  send  every  general  in  the  field  a  barrel 
of  it  !" 


132  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

A  "Pretty  Tolerable  Respectable  Sort  of  a  Cler- 
gyman." 

Some  one  was  discussing  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln the  character  of  a  time-serving  Washington  clergy. . 
man  Said  Mr.  Lincoln  to  his  visitor: 

"I  think  you  are  rather  hard  upon  Mr.  .  He  re- 
minds me  of  a  man  in  Illinois,  who  was  tried  for  passing 
a  counterfeit  bill.  It  was  in  evidence  that  before  passing 
it  he  had  taken  it  to  the  cashier  of  a  bank  and  asked  his 
opinion  of  the  bill,  and  he  received  a  very  prompt  reply 
that  it  was  a  counterfeit.  His  lawyer,  who  had  heard 
the  evidence  to  be  brought  against  his  client,  asked  him 
just  before  going  into  court,  'Did  you  take  the  bill  to  the 
cashier  of  the  bank  and  ask  him  if  it  was  good  ?' 

"  'I  did,'  was  the  reply, 

"  'Well,  what  was  the  reply  of  the  cashier  ?' 

"The  rascal  was  in  a  corner,  but  he  got  out  of  it  in  this 
fashion:  'He  said  it  was  a  pretty  tolerable,  respectable 
sort  of  a  bill."  Mr.  Lincoln  thought  the  clergyman  was 
"a  pretty  talerable,  respectable  sort  of  a  clergyman." 

:o; 


Opened  His  Eyes. 

Mr.  Lincoln  sometimes  had  a  very  effective  way  of 
dealing  with  men  who  troubled  him  with  questions.  A 
visitor  once  asked  him  how  many  men  the  Rebels  had  in 
the  field. 

The  President  replied,  very  seriously,  "  Twelve  hun- 
dred thousand,  according  to  the  best  authority. " 

The  interrogator  blanched  in  the  face,  and  ejaculated. 
"  Good  Heavens  !  " 

"Yes,  sir,  twelve  hundred  thousand — no    doubt  of  it. 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  133 

You  see,  all  of  our  generals,  when  they  get  whipped,  say 
the  enemy  outnumbers  them  from  three  or  five  to  one, 
and  I  must  believe  them.  We  have  four  hundred  thou- 
sand men  in  the  field,  and  three  times  four  makes  twelve. 
Don't  you  see  it?  " 

:o: 

Minnehaha  and  Minneboohoo ! 

Some  gentlemen  fresh  from  a  Western  tour,  during  a 
call  at  the  White  House,  referred  in  the  course  of  con- 
versation to  a  body  of  water  in  Nebraska,  which  bore  an 
Indian  name  signifying  "weeping  water."  Mr.  Lincoln 
instantly  responded:  "  As  '  laughing  water,'  according  to 
Mr.  Longfellow,  is  '  Minnehaha, "  this  evidently  should 
be  '  Minneboohoo. '  " 


-:o:- 


Lincoln  and  the  Artist. 

F.  B.  Carpenter,  the  celebrated  artist  and  author  of 
the  well-known  painting  of  Lincoln  and  his  Cabinet  is- 
suing the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  describes  his  first 
meeting  with  the  President,  as  follows: 

"Two  o'clock  found  me  one  of  the  throng  pressing  to- 
ward the  center  of  attraction,  the  '  blue  '  room.  From 
the  threshold  of  the  '  crimson  '  parlor  as  I  passed,  I  had 
a  glimpse  of  the  gaunt  figure  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  dis- 
tance, haggard-looking,  dressed  in  black,  relieved  only 
by  the  prescribed  white  gloves;  standing,  it  saemed  to 
me,  solitary  and  alone,  though  surrounded  by  the  crowd, 
bending  low  now  and  then  in  the  process  of  hand-shak- 
ing, and  responding  half  abstractedly  to  the  well-meant 
greetings  of  the  miscellaneous  assemblage. 


134  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

"  Never  shall  I  forget  the  electric  thrill  which  went 
through  my  whole  being  at  this  instant.  I  seemed  to  see 
lines  radiating  from  every  part  of  the  globe,  converging 
to  a  focus  where  that  plain,  awkward-looking  man  stood, 
and  to  hear  in  spirit  a  million  prayers.  '  as  the  sound  of 
many  waters,'  ascending  in  his  behalf. 

"Mingled  with  supplication  I  could  discern  a  clear  sym- 
phony of  triumph  and  blessing,  swelled  with  an  ever-in- 
creasing volume.  It  was  the  voice  of  those  who  had  been 
bondmen  and  bondwomen,  and  the  grand  diapason  swept 
up  from  the  coming  ages. 

"  It  was  soon  my  privilege  in  the  regular  succession,  to 
take    that  honored  hand.  Accompanying  the  act,  my 

name  and  profession  were  announced  to  him  in  a  low 
tone  by  one  of  the  assistant  secretaries,  who  stood  by 
his  side. 

"Retaining  my  hand,  he  looked  at  me  inquiringly  for  an 
instant,  and  said,  '  Oh,  yes;  I  know;  this  is  the  painter. ' 
Then  straightening  himself  to  his  full  height,  with  a  twin- 
kle of  the  eye,  he  added,  playfully,   '  Do  you    think,  Mr. 

C ,  that  you  could  make  a  hadsome  picture  of   vie?  ' 

emphasizing  strongly  the  last  word. 

"Somewhat  confused  at  this  point-blank  shot,  uttered 
in  a  voice  so  loud  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  those  in 
immediate  proximity,  I  made  a  random  reply,  and  took 
the  occasion  to  ask  if  I  could  see  him  in  his  study  at  the 
close  of  the  reception. 

"  To  this  he  replied  in  the  peculiar  vernacular  of  the 
West,  '  I  reckon, '  resuming  meanwhile  the  mechanical 
and  traditional  exercise  of  the  hand  which  no  President 
has  ever  yet  been  able  to  avoid,  and  which,  severe  as  is 
the  ordeal,  is  likely  to  attach  to  the  position  so  long  as 
the  Republic  endures. " 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  135 

An  Apt  Illustration. 

At  the  White  House  one  day  some  gentlemen  were 
present  from  the  West,  excited  and  troubled  about  the 
comissions  or  omissions  of  the  Admistration.  The  Pres- 
ident heard  them  patiently,  and  then  replied:  "  Gentle- 
men, suppose  all  the  property  you  have  were  in  gold,  and 
you  had  put  it  in  the  hands  of  Blondin  to  carry  across 
the  Niagara  River  on  a  rope,  would  you  shake  the  cable, 
or  keep  shouting  out  to  him,  '  Blondin,  stand  up  a  little 
straighter — Blondin,  stoop  a  little  more — go  a  little  fast- 
er— lean  a  little  more  to  the  north — lean  a  little  more  to 
the  south?'  No!  you  would  hold  your  breath  as  well  as 
your  tongue,  and  keep  your  hands  off  until  he  was  safe 
over.  The  Government  is  carrying  an  immense  weight. 
Untold  treasures  are  in  her  hands.  They  are  doing  the 
very  best  they  can.  Don't  badger  them.  Keep  silence, 
and  we'll  get  you  safe  across." 


■:o:- 


More  Light  and  Less  Noise. 

An  editorial  in  a  New  York  journal  opposing  Lincoln's 
re-nomination,  is  said  to  have  called  out  from  him  the 
following  story: 

A  traveler  on  the  frontier  found  himself  out  of  his  reck- 
oning one  night  in  a  most  inhospitable  region.  A  ter- 
rific thunder  storm  came  up  to  add  to  his  trouble.  He 
floundered  along  until  his  horse  at  length  gave  out.  The 
lightning  afforded  him  the  only  clew  to  his  way,  but  the 
peals  of  thunder  were  frightful.  One  bolt,  which  seemed 
to  crash  the  earth  beneath  him,  brought  him  to  his  knees. 


136  Lincoln's  stories  and  spfeches. 

By  no  means  a  praying  man,  his  petition  was  short  and 
to  the  point — "  O,  Lord,  if  it  is  all  the  same  to  you,  give 
us  a  little  more  light  and  a  little  less  noise!  " 

:o: 

"Browsed  Around." 

A  party  of  gentlemen,  among  whom  was  a  doctor  of 
divinity  of  much  dignity  of  manner,  calling  at  the  White 
House  one  day,  was  informed  by  the  porter  that  the  Pres- 
ident was  at  dinner,  but  that  he  would  present  their 
cards. 

The  doctor  demurred  at  this,  saying  that  he  would  call 
again.  "  Edward  "  assured  them  that  he  thought  it  would 
make  no  difference,  and  went  in  with  the  cards.  In  a 
few  minutes  the  President  walked  into  the  room,  with  a 
kindly  salutation,  and  a  request  that  the  friends  would 
take  seats.  The  doctor  expressed  regret  that  their  visit 
was  so  ill-timed,  and  that  his  Excellency  was  disturbed 
while  at  dinner. 

"  Oh  !  no  consequence  at  all,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  good- 
naturedly.  "  Mrs.  Lincoln  is  absent  at  present,  and 
when  she  is  away  I  generally  '  browse '  around.  " 


-:o:- 


Cutting  Red  Tape. 

Upon  entering  the  President's  office  one  afternoon, 
says  a  Washington  correspondent,  I  found  the  President 
busily  counting  greenbacks. 

"This,  sir,"  said  he,  "  is  something  out  of  my  usual 
line;  but  a  President  of  the  United  States  has  a  multi- 
plicity of  duties  not  specified  in  the  Constitution  or  acts 
of  Congress.     This  is  one  of  them.    This  money  belongs 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  1 37 

to  a  poor  negro  who  is  a  porter  in  the  Treasary  Depart- 
ment, at  present  very  bad  with  the  small-pox.  He  is  now 
in  the  hospital,  and  could  not  draw  his  pay  because  he 
could  not  sign  his  name. 

"  I  have  been  at  considerable  trouble  to  over  comethe 
difficulty  and  get  it  for  him,  and  have  at  length  succeeded 
in  cutting  red  tape,  as  you  newspaper  men  say.  I  am 
now  dividing  the  money  and  putting  by  a  portion  labeled, 
in  an  envelope,  with  my  own  hands,  according  to  his 
wish;  "  and  he  proceeded  to  indorse  the  package  very  care- 
fully. 

No  one  witnessing  the  transaction  could  fail  to  appre- 
ciate the  goodness  of  heart  which  prompted  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  to  turn  aside  for  a  time 
from  his  weighty  cares  to  succor  one  of  the  humblest  of 
his  fellow-creatures  in  sickness  and  sorrow. 


•:o:- 


One  of  Lincoln's  Drolleries. 

Concerning  a  drollery  of  President  Lincoln,  this  story 
is  told: 

During  the  rebellion  an  Austrian  Count  applied  to 
President  Lincoln  for  a  position  in  the  army.  Being  in- 
troduced by  the  Austrian  Minister,  he  needed,  of  course, 
no  further  recommendation;  but,  as  if  fearing  that  his 
importance  might  not  be  duly  appreciated,  he  proceeded 
to  explain  that  he  was  a  Count,  that  his  family  were  an- 
cient and  highly  respectable,  when  Lincoln,  with  a  mer- 
ry twinkle  in  his  eye,  tapping  the  aristiocratic  lover  of 
titles  on  the  shoulder,  in  a  fatherly  way,  as    if   the   man 


138  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

had  confessed  to  some  wrong,  interrupted   in  a  soothing 
tone: 

"  Never  mind;  you  shall  be  treated  with  just  as  much 
consideration  for  all  that . 


•:o:- 


How  Lincoln  and  Stanton  Dismissed  Appli- 
cants for  Office. 

A  gentleman  states  in  a  Chicago  journal: 

In  the  winter  of  1864,  after  serving  three  years  in  the 
Union  army,  and  being  honorably  discharged,  I  made 
application  for  the  post  sutlership  at  Point  Lookout.  My 
father  being  interested,  we  made  application  to  Mr.  Stan- 
ton, then  Secretary  of  War. 

We  obtained  an  audience,  and  was  ushered  into  the 
presence  of  the  most  pompous  man  I  ever  met.  As  I 
entered  he  waved  his  hand  for  me  to  stop  at  a  given  dis- 
tance from  him,  and  then  put  these  questions,  viz: 

"  Did  you  serve  three  years  in  the  army?" 

"  I  did,  sir." 

"  Were  you  honorably  discharged?" 

"  I  was,  sir." 

"  Let  me  see  your  discharge." 

I  gave  it  to  him.      He  looked  it  over,  and  then  said: 

"  Were  you  ever  wounded?  " 

I  told  him  yes,  at  the  battle  of  Williamsburg,  May  5, 
1861 

He  then  said: 

"I  think  we  can  give  this  position  to  a  soldier  who 
has  lost  an  arm  or  leg.  he  being  more  deserving;  "  and 
he  then   said  that   I   looked  hearty  and  healthy  enough 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  1 39 

to  serve  three  years  more.  He  would  not  give  me  a 
chance  to  argue  my  case. 

The  audience  was  at  an  end.  He  waved  his  hand  to 
me.  I  was  then  dismissed  from  the  august  presence  of 
the  Honorable  Secretary  of  War. 

My  father  was  waiting  for  me  in  the  hallway,  who 
saw  by  my  countenance  that  I  was  not  successful.  I 
said  to  my  father: 

"Let  us  go  over  to  Mr.  Lincoln;  he  may  give  us 
more  satisfaction. " 

He  said  it  would  do  no  good,  but  we  went  over. 
Mr.  Lincoln's  reception  room  was  full  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen  when  we  entered,  and  the  scene  was  one  I 
shall  never  forget. 

On  her  knees  was  a  woman  in  the  agonies  of  des- 
pair, with  tears  rolling  down  her  cheeks,  imploring  for 
the  life  of  her  son,  who  had  deserted  and  had  been 
condemned  to  be  shot.      I  heard  Mr.    Lincoln  say: 

"Madam,  do  not  act  this  way,  it  is  agony  to  me; 
I  would  pardon  your  son  if  it  was  in  my  power,  but 
there  must  be  an  example  made  or  I  will  have  no 
army." 

At  this  speech  the  woman  fainted.  Lincoln  motioned 
to  his  attendant,  who  picked  the  woman  up  and  car- 
ried her  out.      All  in  the  room  were  in  tears. 

But,  now  changing  the  scene  from  the  sublime  to  the 
ridiculous,  the  next  applicant  for  favor  was  a  big,  bux- 
om Irish  woman,  who  stood  before  the  President  with 
arms  akimbo,  saying: 

"Mr.  Lincoln,   can't  I  sell  apples  on  the  railroad?  ' 

Lincoln  said:  "Certainly,  madam,  you  can  sell  all 
you  wish." 


I4O  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

But  she  said:  "You  must  give  me  a  pass,  or  the 
soldiers  will  not  let  me." 

Lincoln  then  wrote  a  few  lines  and  gave  it  to  her, 
who  said: 

"Thank  you,  sir;   God  bless  you." 

This  shows  how  quick  and  clear  were  all  this  man's 
decisions. 

I  stood  and  watched  him  for  two  hours,  and  he  dis- 
missed each  case  as  quickly  as  the  above,  with  satis- 
faction to  all. 

My  turn  soon  came.  Lincoln  turned  to  my  father  and 
said:     • 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  be  pleased  to  be  as  quick  as  pos- 
sible with  your  business,  as  it  is  growing  late." 

My  father  then  stepped  up  to  Lincoln  and  introduced 
me  to  him.      Lincoln  then  said: 

"Take  a  seat,  gentlemen,  and  state  your  business  as 
quick  as  possible." 

There  was  but  one  chair  by  Lincoln,  so  he  motioned 
my  father  to  sit,  while  I  stood.  My  father  stated  the 
business  to  him  as  stated  above.      He  then  said: 

"Have  you  seen  Mr.   Stanton?" 

We  told  him  yes,  that  he  had  refused.  He  (Mr.  Lin- 
coln) then  said: 

"Gentlemen,  this  is  Mr.  Stanton's  business;  I  cannot 
interfere  with  him;  he  attends  to  all  these  matters,  and  I 
am  sorry  I  cannot  help  you. " 

He  saw  that  we  were  disappointed,  and  did  his  best  to 
revive  our  spirits.  He  succeeded  well  with  my  father, 
who  was  a  Lincoln  man,  and  who  was  a  staunch  Repub- 
lican. 

Mr.   Lincoln  then  said: 


WHITE   HOUSE   INCIDENTS.  141 

"Now,  gentlemen,  I  will  tell  you  what  it  is;  I  have 
thousands  of  applications  like  this  every  day,  but  we 
can  not  satisfy  all  for  this  reason,  that  these  positions 
are  like  office  seekers — there  are  too  many  pigs  for  the 
tits." 

The  ladies  who  were  listening  to  the  conversation 
placed  their  handkerchiefs  to  their  faces  and  turned 
away.  But  the  joke  of  Old  Abe  put  us  all  in  a  good  hu- 
mor. We  then  left  the  presence  of  the  greatest  and 
most  just  man  who  ever  lived  to  fill  the  Presidential 
chair. 

:o: 

Where  the  President's  Mind   Wandered. 

An  amusing,  yet  touching  instance,  of  the  President's 
pre-occupation  of  mind,  occurred  at  one  of  his  levees 
when  he  was  shaking  hands  with  a  host  of  visitors  pass- 
ing him  in  a  continuous  stream.  An  intimate  acquaint- 
ance received  the  usual  conventional  hand-shake  and 
salutation,  but  perceiving  that  he  was  not  recognized, 
kept  his  ground  instead  of  moving  on,  and  spoke  again; 
when  the  President,  roused  to  a  dim  consciousness  that 
something  unusual  had  happened,  perceived  who  stood 
before  him,  and  seizing  his  friend's  hand,  shook  it  again 
heartily,  saying: 

"  How  do  you  do?  How  do  you  do?  Excuse  me  for 
not  noticing  you.  I  was  thinking  of  a  man  down 
South." 

He  afterwards  privately  acknowledged  that  the  "  man 
down  South  "  was  Sherman,   then  on  his  march  to  the 

■ 

sea. 

:o: 


142  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Lincoln  and  the  Preacher. 

An  officer  of  the  Government  called  one  day  at  the 
White  House  and  introduced  a  clerical  friend.  ' '  Mr. 
President,"  said  he,  "allow  me  to  present  to  you  my 
friend,  the  Rev.  Mr  F. ,  of .  He  has  expressed  a  de- 
sire to  see  you  and  have  some  conversation  with  you,  and 
I  am  happy  to  be  the  means  of  introducing  him." 

The  President  shook  hands  with  Mr.  F. ,  and  desiring 
him  to  be  seated  took  a  seat  himself.  Then  his  counte- 
nance, having  assumed  an  air  of  patient  waiting,  he  said: 

"  I  am  now  ready  to  hear  what  you  have  to  say." 
"  Oh,  bless  you,  sir,  "said    Mr.  F. ,   "I  have   nothing 
special  to  say;  I  merely  called  to  pay  my  respects  to  you, 
and,  as  one  of  the   million,  to  assure  you   of  my  hearty 
sympathy  and  support." 

"  My  dear  sir,"  said  the  President,  rising  promptly,  his 
face  showing  instant  relief,  and  with  both  hands  grasp- 
ing that  of  his  visitor,  "  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you,  in- 
deed.    I  thought  you  had  come  to  preach  to  me!  " 


:o: 


Lincoln  and  Little  "  Tad." 

The  day  after  the  review  of  Burnside's  division  some 
photographers,  says  Mr.  Carpenter,  came  up  to  the  White 
House  to  make  some  stereoscopic  studies  for  me  of  the 
President's  office.  They  requested  a  dark  closet  in  which 
to  develop  the  pictures,  and  without  a  thought  that  I  was 
infringing  upon  anybody's  rights,  I  took  them  to  an  unoc- 
cupied room  of  which  little  "Tad"  had  taken  possession 
a  few  days  before,  and  with  the  aid  of  a  couple  of  the  serv- 
ants had  fitted  up  a  miniature  theatre,   with  stage,  cur- 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  1 43 

tains,  orchestra,  stalls,  parquette  and  all.  Knowing  that 
the  use  required  would  interfere  with  none  of  his  arrange- 
ments, I  led  the  way  to  this  apartment. 

Everything  went  on  well,  and  one  or  two  pictures  had 
been  taken,  when  suddenly  there  was  an  uproar.  The  op- 
erator came  back  to  the  office  and  said  that  "Tad"  had 
taken  great  offense  at  the  occupation  of  his  room  without 
his  consent,  and  had  locked  the  door,  refusing  all  admis- 
sion. 

The  chemicals  had  been  taken  inside,  and  there  was  no 
way  of  getting  at  them,  he  having  carried  off  the  key.  In 
the  midst  of  this  conversation  "Tad  "burst  in,  in  a  fear- 
ful passion.  He  laid  all  the  blame  upon  me — said  that  I 
had  no  right  to  use  his  room,  and  the  men  should  not  go  in 
even  to  get  their  things.  He  had  locked  the  door  and  they 
should  not  go  there  again — ' '  they  had  no  business  in  his 
room!" 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  sitting  for  a  photograph,  and  was  still 
in  the  chair.  He  said,  very  mildly,  "  Tad,  go  and  unlock 
the  door. "  Tad  went  off  muttering  into  his  mother's  room, 
refusing  to  obey.  I  followed  him  into  the  passage,  but  no 
coaxing  would  pacify  him.  Upon  my  return  to  the  Pres- 
ident I  found  him  still  patiently  in  the  chair,  from  which 
be  had  not  risen.  He  said:  "  Has  not  the  boy  opened 
the  door  ?  "  I  replied  that  we  could  do  nothing  with  him 
— he  had  gone  off  in  a  great  pet.  Mr.  Lincoln's  lips  came 
together  firmly,  and  then,  suddenly  rising,  he  strode  across 
the  passage  with  the  air  of  one  bent  on  punishment,  and 
disappeared  in  the  domestic  apartments.  Directly  he  re- 
turned with  the  key  to  the  theatre,  which  he  unlocked 
himself. 

"Tad,"  said  he,  half  apologetically,    "  is  a  peculiar 


144  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

child.  He  was  violently  excited  when  I  went  to  him.  I 
said,  '  Tad,  do  you  know  that  you  are  making  your  father 
a  great  deal  of  trouble?'  He  burst  into  tears,  instantly 
giving  me  up  the  key." 


A  Touching  Incident. 

After  the. funeral  of  his  son,  William  Wallace  Lincoln, 
in  February,  1862,  the  President  resumed  his  official  du- 
ties, but  mechanically,  and  with  a  terrible  weight  at  his 
heart.  The  following  Thursday  he  gave  way  to  his  feel- 
ings, and  shut  himself  from  all  society.  The  second  Thurs- 
day it  was  the  same;  he  would  see  no  one,  and  seemed  a 
prey  to  the  deepest  melancholy.  About  this  time  the  Rev. 
Francis  Vinton,  of  Trinity,  Church,  New  York,  had  occa- 
sion to  spend  a  few  days  in  Washington.  An  acquaint- 
ance of  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  of  her  sister,  Mrs.  Edwards,  of 
Springfield,  he  was  requested  by  them  to  come  up  and  see 
the  President. 

The  setting  apart  of  Thursday  for  the  indulgence  of  his 
grief  had  gone  on  for  several  weeks,  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  be- 
gan to  be  seriously  alarmed  for  the  health  of  her  husband, 
of  which  fact  Dr.  Vinton  was  apprised. 

Mr.  Lincoln  received  him  in  the  parlor,  and  an  oppor- 
tunity was  soon  embraced  by  the  clergyman  to  chide  him 
for  showing  so  rebellious  a  disposition  to  the  decree  of 
Providence.  He  told  him  plainly  that  the  indulgence  of 
such  feelings,  though  natural,  was  sinful.  It  was  un- 
worthy one  who  believed  in  the  Christian  religion.  He 
had  duties  to  the  living  greater  than  those  of  any  other 
man,  as  the  chosen  father,  and  leader  of  the  people,  and 
he  was  unfitting  himself   for   his   responsibilities  by  thus 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  145 

giving  way  to  his  grief.  To  mourn  the  departed  as  lost 
belonged  to  heathenism — not  to  Christianity.  "Your 
son,"  said  Dr.  Vinton,  "is  alive  in  Paradise.  Do  you 
remember  that  passage  in  the  Gospels:  'God  is  not 
the  God  of  the  dead  but  of  the  living,  for  all  live  unto 
Him?'" 

The  President  had  listened  as  one  in  a  stupor,  until 
his  ear  caught  the  words:  "Your  son  is  alive."  Starting 
from  the  sofa,  he  exclaimed,  "Alive!  alive!  Surely  you 
mock  me." 

"No,  sir,  believe  me,"  replied  Dr.  Vinton,  "it  is  a 
most  comfortiog  doctrine  of  the  church,  founded  upon 
the  words  of  Christ  Himself." 

Mr.  Lincoln  looked  at  him  a  moment,  and  then  step- 
ping forward,  he  threw  his  arm  around  the  clergyman's 
neck,  and,  laying  his  head  upon  his  breast,  sobbed  aloud, 
"Alive?  alive?"  he  repeated. 

"My  dear  sir,"  said  Dr.  Vinton,  greatly  moved,  as  he 
twined  his  own  arm  around  the  weeping  father,  "believe 
this,  for  it  is  God's  most  precious  truth.  Seek  not  your 
son  among  the  dead;  he  is  not  there;  he  lives  to-day  in 
Paradise! 

Think  of  the  full  import  of  the  words  I  have  quoted. 
The  Sadducees.  when  they  questioned  Jesus,  had  no 
other  conception  than  that  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob 
were  dead  and  buried.  Mark  the  reply:  "Now  that 
the  dead  are  raised,  even  Moses  showed  at  the  bush  when 
he  called  the  Lord  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of 
Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob .  For  He  is  not  the  God 
of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living,  for  all  live  unto  Him! 
Did  not  the  aged  patriarch  mourn  his  sons  as  dead?   'Jo- 


LINCOLN'S   STORIES   AND   SPEECHES 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  I47 

seph  is  not,  and  Simeon  is  not,  and  ye  will  take  Benja- 
min, also.'  But  Joseph  and  Simeon  were  both  living 
though  he  believed  it  not.  Indeed,  Joseph  being  taken 
from  him,  was  the  eventual  means  of  the  preservation  of 
the  whole  family.  And  so  God  has  called  your  son  into 
His  upper  kingdom — a  kingdom  and  an  existence  as 
real,  more  real,  than  your  own.  It  may  be  that  he,  too. 
like  Joseph,  has  gone,  in  God's  good  providence,  to  be 
the  salvation  of  his  father's  household.  It  is  a  part  of  the 
Lord's  plan  for  the  ultimate  happiness  of  you  and  yours. 
Doubt  it  not.  I  have  a  sermon,"  continued  Dr.  Vin- 
ton, "upon  this  subject,  which  I  think  might  interest 
you." 

Mr.  Lincoln  begged  him  to  send  it  at  an  early  day — 
thanking  him  repeatedly  for  his  cheering  and  hopeful 
words.  The  sermon  was  sent,  and  read  over  and  over 
by  the  President,  who  caused  a  copy  to  be  made  for  his 
own  private  use  before  it  was  returned. 


■:o:- 


Lincoln  Wipes   the  Tears  from  His  Eyes   and 

Tells  a    Story. 

A .  W.  Clark,  member  of  Congress  from  Watertown, 
New  York,  relates  the  following  interesting  story: 

During  the  war  a  constituent  came  to  me  and  stated 
that  one  of  his  sons  was  killed  in  a  battle,  and  another 
died  at  Andersonville,  while  the  third  and  only  remaining 
son  was  sick  at  Harper's  Ferry. 

These  disasters  had  such  effect  on  his  wife  that  she 
had  become  insane.  He  wanted  to  get  this  last  and  sick 
son  discharged  and  take  him   home,   hoping  it  would  re- 


148  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

store  his  wife  to  reason.  I  went  with  him  to  President 
Lincoln  and  related  the  facts  as  well  as  I  could,  the 
father  sitting  by  and  weeping.  The  President,  much  af- 
fected, asked  for  the  papers  and  wrote  across  them, 
"Discharge  this  man  . " 

Then,  wiping  the  tear  from  his  cheek,  he  turned  to 
the  man  at  the  door,  and  said,  "Bring  in  that  man," 
rather  as  if  he  felt  bored,  which  caused  me  to  ask  why 
it  was  so. 

He  replied  that  it  was  a  writing-master  who  had  spent 
a  long  time  in  copying  his  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
had  ornamented  it  with  flourishes,  and  which  made  him 
think  of  an  Irishman  who  said  it  took  him  an  hour  to 
catch  his  old  horse,  and  when  he  had  caught  him  he  was 
not  worth  a  darn! 


-:o:- 


Comments  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  Emancipation 

Proclamation. 

The  final  proclamation  was  signed  on  New  Year's  day, 
1863.  The  President  remarked  to  Mr.  Colfax,  the  same 
evening,  that  the  signature  appeared  somewhat  tremu- 
lous and  uneven.  "Not,"  said  he,  "because  of  any  un- 
certainty or  hesitation  on  my  part;  but  it  was  just  after 
the  public  reception,  and  three  hours'  hand-shaking  is  not 
calculated  to  improve  a  man's  chirography."  Then 
changing  his  tone,  he  added:  "The  South  had  fair  warn- 
ing, that  if  they  did  not  return  to  their  duty,  I  should 
strike  at  this  pillar  of  their  strength.  The  promise  must 
now  be  kept,  and  I  shall  never  recall  one  word." 


WHITE   HOUSE    INCIDNETS.  1 49 

Lincoln  Arguing  against  the  Emancipation  Pro- 
clamation that  he  may  learn  all  About  it. 

When  Lincoln's  judgment,  which  acted  slowly,  but 
which  was  almost  as  immovable  as  the  eternal  hills  when 
settled,  was  grasping  some  subject  of  importance,  the  ar- 
guments against  his  own  desires  seemed  uppermest  in 
his  mind,  and,  in  conversing  upon  it,  he  would  present 
those  arguments  to  see  if  they  could  be  rebutted. 

This  is  illustrated  by  the  interview  between  himself 
and  the  Chicago  delegation  of  clergymen,  appointed  to 
urge  upon  him  the  issue  of  a  Proclamation  of  Emancipa- 
tion, which  occurred  September  13,  1862,  more  than  a 
month  after  he  had  declared  to  the  Cabinet  his  establish- 
ed purpose  to  take  this  step. 

He  said  to  this  committee: 

'  'I  do  not  want  to  issue  a  document  that  the  whole 
world  will  see  must  necessarily  be  inoperative,  like  the 
Pope's  bull  against  the  comet!  " 

After  drawing  out  their  views  upon  the  subject,  he  con- 
cluded the  interview  with  these  memorable  words: 

"Do  not  misunderstand  me,  because  I  have  mentioned 
these  objections.  They  indicate  the  difficulties  which 
have  thus  far  prevented  my  action  in  some  such  way  as 
you  desire.  I  have  not  decided  against  a  proclamation 
of  liberty  to  the  slaves,  but  hold  the  matter  under  advise- 
ment. And  I  can  assure  you  that  the  subject  is  on  my 
mind,  by  day  and  night,  more  than  any  other.  What- 
ever shall  appear  to  be  God's  will,  I  will  do!  I  trust 
that,  in  the  freedom  with  which  I  have  canvassed  your 
views,   I  have  not  in  any  respect  injured  your  feelings." 


150  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Laugh. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  "laugh"  stood  by  itself.  The  neigh  of 
a  wild  horse  on  his  native  prairie  is  not  more  undisguised 
and  hearty.  A  group  of  gentlemen,  among  whom  was 
his  old  Springfield  friend  and  associate,  Hon.  Isaac  N. 
Arnold,  were  one  day  conversing  in  the  passage  near  his 
office,  while  awaiting  admission.  A  congressional  dele- 
gation had  proceded  them,  and  presently  an  unmistakable 
voice  was  heard  through  the  partition,  in  a  burst  of 
mirth.  Mr.  Arnold  remarked,  as  the  sound  died 
away:  "That  laugh  has  been  the  President's  life- 
preserver!  " 


Lincoln  and  the  Newspapers." 

On  a  certain  occasion,  the  President  was  induced  by  a 
committee  of  gentlemen  to  examine  a  newly-invented 
1  'repeating"  gun,  the  peculiarity  of  which  was,  that  it  pre- 
vented the  escape  of  gas.  After  due  inspection,  he  said: 
"Well,  I  believe  this  really  does  what  it  is  represented  to 
do.  Now,  have  any  of  you  heard  of  any  machine  or  in- 
vention for  preventing  the  escape  of  'gas'  from  news- 
paper establishments? " 


:o; 


Lincoln's  Bull-frog  Story. 

Violent  criticism,  attacks  and  denunciations,  coming 
either  from  radicals  or  conservatives,  rarely  ruffled  the 
President,  if  they  reached  his  ears.  It  must  have  been 
in  connection  with  something  of  this  kind,  that  he  once 
told  a  friend  this  story: 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  I  5  I 

"Some  years  ago,"  said  he,  "a  couple  of  emigrants, 
fresh  from  the  Emerald  Isle,  seeking  labor,  were  making 
their  way  toward  the  West.  Coming  suddenly  one  even- 
ing upon  a  pond  of  water,  they  were  greeted  with  a  grand 
chorus  of  frogs — a  kind  of  music  they  had  never  before 
heard.      'B-a-u-m!     B-a-u-m!' 

"Overcome  with  terror,  they  clutched  their  'shilleluhs,' 
and  crept  cautiously  forward,  straining  their  eyes  in  every 
direction  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  enemy;  but  he  was  not 

to  be  found! 

"At  last  a  happy  idea  seized  the  foremost  one — he  sprang 
to  his  companion  and  exclaimed,  'And  sure,  Jamie!  it  is 
my  opinion  it  is  nothing  but  a  noise! ' 


-:o:- 


Lincoln's  Story  of   a   Poodle   Dog. 

A  friend  who  was  walking  over  from  the  White  House  to 
the  War  Department  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  repeated  to  him 
the  story  of  a  '  'contraband"  who  had  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  some  good,  pious  people,  and  was  being  taught  by  them 
to  read  and  pray. 

Going  off  by  himself  one  day,  he  was  overheard  to  com- 
mence a  prayer  by  the  introduction  of  himself  as  "Jim 
Williams — a  berry  good  nigga'  to  wash  windows;  'spec's 
you  know  me  now?  " 

After  a  hearty  laugh  at  what  he  called  this  "direct  way 
of  putting  the  case, "  Mr .  Lincoln  said: 

'The  story  that  suggests  to  me,  has  no  resemblance  to 
it,  save  in  the  'washing  windows'  part.  A  lady  in  Phila- 
delphia had  a  pet  poodle  dog,  which  mysterionsly  disap- 
peared.     Rewards  were  offered  for  him,  and  a  great  ado 


152  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

made  without  efiect.  Some  weeks  passed,  and  all  hope  of 
the  favorite's  return  had  been  given  up,  when  a  servant 
brought  him  in  one  day  in  the  filthiest  condition  imagina- 
ble. The  lady  was  overjoyed  to  see  her  pet  again,  but  hor- 
riffed  at  his  appearance. 

"Where  did  you  find  him!  "  she  exclaimed. 

"Oh,"  replied  the  man,  very  unconcernedly,  "a  negro 
down  the  street  had  him  tied  to  the  end  of  a  pole,  swabbing 
windows. " 


:o: 


Lincoln's  Speech  to  the  Union  League. 

The  day  following  the  adjournment  at  Baltimore,  vari- 
ous political  organizations  call  to  pay  their  respects  to  the 
President.  First  came  the  conventjon  committee,  em- 
bracing one  from  each  state  represented — appointed  to  an- 
nounce to  him,  formally,  the  aomination.  Next  came  the 
Ohio  delegation,  with  Mentor'y  band,  of  Cincinnati.  Fol- 
lowing these  were  the  representatives  of  the  National 
Union  League,  to  whom  he  saiid,  in  concluding  his  brief 
response: 

"I  do  not  allow  myself  to  suppose  that  either  the  con- 
vention or  the  League  have  concluded  to  decide  that  I  am 
either  the  greatest  or  the  best  n.ian  in  America;  but,  rather 
they  have  concluded  that  it  is  no  t  best  to  swap  horses  while 
crossing  the  river,  and  have  fur  ther  concluded  that  I  am 
not  so  poor  a  horse,  but  that  t' ney  might  make  a  botch  of 
itintryingto  swap!" 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  153 

Ejecting  a  Cashiered    Officer   frum  the  White 

House. 

Among  the  callers  at  the  White  House  one  day  was  an 
officer  who  had  been  cashiered  from  the  service.  He  had 
prepared  an  elaborate  defence  of  himself,  which  he  con- 
sumed much  time  in  reading  to  the  President.  When  he 
had  finished,  Mr.  Lincoln  replied,  that  even  upon  his  own 
statement  of  the  case,  the  facts  would  not  warrant  execu- 
tive interference.  Disappointed  and  considerably  crest- 
fallen, the  man  withdrew. 

A  few  days  afterwards  he  made  a  second  attempt  to  al- 
ter the  President's  convictions,  going  over  substantially 
the  same  ground,  and  occupying  about  the  same  space  of 
time,  but  without  accomplishing  his  end. 

The  third  time  he  succeeded  in  forcing  himself  into  Mr. 
Lincoln's  presence,  who  with  great  forbearance  listened  to 
another  repetition  of  the  case  to  its  conclusion,  but  made 
no  reply.  Waiting  for  a  moment,  the  man  gathered  from 
the  expression  of  his  countenance  that  his  mind  was  un- 
convinced.    Turning  very  abruptly,  he  said: 

"Well,  Mr.  President,  I  see  you  are  fully  determined 
not  to  do  me  justice." 

This  was  too  aggravating,  even  for  Mr.  Lincoln.  Man- 
ifesting, however,  no  more  feeling  than  that  indicated  by 
a  slight  compression  of  the  lips,  he  very  quietly  arose,  laid 
down  a  package  of  papers  he  held  in  his  hand,  and  then 
suddenly  seiziug  the  defunct  officer  by  the  coat-collar,  he 
marched  him  forcibly  to  the  door,  saying,  as  he  ejected 
him  into  the  passage: 

"Sir,  I  give  you  fair  warning  never  to  show  yourself  in 
this  room  again .      I  can  bear  censure,  but  not  insult!" 


154  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

In  a  whining  tone  the  man  begged  for  his  papers,  which 
he  had  dropped. 

"Begone,  sir,"  said  the  President,  ' 'your  papers  will  be 
sent  to  you.     I  never  wish  to  see  your  face  again!  " 


Lincoln   and    the  Wall    Street  Gold  Gamblers. 

Mr.  Carpenter,  the  artist,  is  responsible  for  the  fol- 
lowing: 

The  bill  empowering  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
sell  the  surplus  gold  had  recently  passed,  and  Mr.  Chase 
was  then  in  New  York  giving  his  attention  personally  to 
the  experiment.  Governor  Curtin  referred  to  this,  saying 
to  the  President: 

"I  see  by  the  quotations  that  Chase's  movement  has 
already  knocked  gold  down  several  per  cent. " 

This  gave  occasion  for  the  strongest  expression  I  ever 
heard  fall  from  the  lips  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Knotting  his  face 
in  the  intensity  of  his  feeling,  he  said: 

"Curtin,  what  do  you  think  of  those  fellows  in  Wall 
Street  who  are  gambling  in  gold  at  such  a  time  as  this?  " 

'  'They  are  a  set  of  sharks, "  returned  Curtin. 

"For  my  part,"  continued  the  President,  bringing  his 
clinched  hand  down  upon  the  table,  "I  wish  every  one  of 
them  had  his  devilish  head  shot  off!  " 


-:o:- 


How  the  Negroes  Regarded  "3Iassa  Lincoln." 

In  1863,  Colonel  McKaye  of  New  York,  with  Robert 
Dale  Owen  and  one  or  two  other  gentlemen,  were  asso- 
ciated as  a  committee  to  investigate  the  condition  of  the 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  1 55 

freedmen  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina.  Upon  their 
return  from  Hilton  Head  they  reported  to  the  President, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  interview  Col.  McKaye  related 
the  following  incident: 

He  had  been  speaking  of  the  ideas  of  power  entertain- 
ed by  these  people.  He  said  they  had  an  idea  of  God, 
as  the  Almighty,  and  they  had  realized  in  their  former 
condition  the  power  of  their  masters.  Up  to  the  time  of 
the  arrival  among  them  of  the  Union  forces,  they  had  no 
knowledge  of  any  other  power.  Their  masters  fled  upon 
the  approach  of  our  soldiers,  and  this  gave  the  slaves  a 
conception  of  a  power  greater  than  that  exercised 
by  them.      This  power  they  called   "Massa  Linkum." 

Colonel  McKaye  said  that  their  place  of  worship  was 
a  large  building  which  they  called  "the  praise  house;" 
and  the  leader  of  the  meeting,  a  venerable  black  man, 
was  known  as  "the  praise  man."  On  a  certain  day, 
when  there  was  quite  a  large  gathering  of  the  people, 
considerable  confusion  was  created  by  different  persons 
attempting  to  tell  who  and  what  "Massa  Linkum"  was. 
In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  the  white-headed  leader 
commanded  silence. 

"Brederin,"  said  he,  "you  don't  know  nosen'  what 
you'se  talkin'  'bout.  Now,  you  just  listen  to  me.  Massa 
Linkum,  he  eberywhar.  He  know  eberyting. "  Then, 
solemnly  looking  up,  he  added,  —  "He  walk  de  earf  like 
de  Lord!  " 

Colonel  McKaye  said  that  Mr.  Lincoln  seemed  much 
affected  by  this  account.  He  did  not  smile,  as  another 
man  might  have  done,  but  got  up  from  his  chair  and  walked 


156  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

in  silence  two  or  three  times  across  the  floor.      As  he  re- 
sumed his  seat,  he  said  very  impressively: 

"It  is  a  momentous  thing  to  be  the  instrument,  under 
Providence,  of  the  liberation  of  a  race." 


-:o:- 


One  of  Lincoln's  Last  Stories. 

One  of  the  last  stories  heard  from  Mr.  Lincoln  wass 
concerning  John  Tyler,  for  whom  it  was  to  be  expected,  as 
an  old  Henry  Clay  Whig,  he  would  entertain  no  great 
respect.  "A  year  or  two  after  Tyler's  accession  to  the 
Presidency,"  said  he,  "contemplating  an  excursion  in 
some  direction,  his  son  went  to  order  a  special  train  of 
cars.  It  so  happened  that  the  railroad  superintendent 
was  a  very  strong  Whig .  On  Bob's  making  known  his 
errand,  that  official  bluntly  informed  him  that  his  road 
did  not  run  any  special  trains  for  the  President. 

"What!"  said  Bob,  "did  you  not  furnish  a  special 
train  for  the  funeral  of  General  Harrison? " 

"Yes,"  said  the  superintendent,  stroking  his  whiskers; 
"and  if  you  will  only  bring  your  father  here  in  that  shape 
you  shall  have  the  best  train  on  the  road!  " 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  1 57 

Lincoln's  Habits  in  the  White  House. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  habits  at  the  White  House  were  as  sim- 
ple as  they  were  at  his  old  home  in  Illinois.  He  never 
alluded  to  himself  as  "Presideut,"  or  as  occupying  "the 
Presidency.  His  office  he  always  designated  as  "the 
place."  Call  me  Lincoln,"  said  he  to  a  friend;  "Mr. 
President"  had  become  so  very  tiresome  to  him.  "If  you 
see  a  newsboy  down  the  street  send  him  up  this  way," 
said  he  to  a  passenger,  as  he  stood  waiting  for  the  morn- 
ing news  at  his  gate.  Friends  cautioned  him  against 
exposing  himself  so  openly  in  the  midst  of  enemies;  but 
he  never  heeded  them,  He  frequently  walked  the  streets 
at  night,  entirely  unprotected;  and  felt  any  check  upon 
his  free  movements  a  great  annoyance.  He  delighted  to 
see  his  familiar  Western  friends;  and  he  gave  them  al- 
ways a  cordial  welcome.  He  met  them  on  the  old  foot- 
ing, and  fell  at  once  into  the  accustomed  habits  of  talk 
and  story-telling. 

An  old  acquaintance,  with  his  wife,  visited  Washing- 
ton. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  proposed  to  these  friends  a 
ride  in  the  Presidential  carriage.  It  should  be  stated  in 
advance  that  the  two  men  had  probably  never  seen  each 
other  with  gloves  on  in  their  lives,  unless  when  they  were 
used  as  protection  from  the  cold. 

The  question  of  each— »Mr.  Lincoln  at  the  White  House 
and  his  friend  at  the  hotel — was,  whether  he  should  wear 
gloves.  Of  course  the  ladies  urged  gloves;  but  Mr.  Lin- 
coln only  put  his  in  his  pocket,  to  be  used  or  not,  ac- 
cording to  circumstances. 

When  the  Presidential  party  arrived  at  the  hotel,  to 
take   in  their  friends,  they  found  the  gentleman,  over- 


158  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

come  by  his  wife's  persuasions,  very  handsomely  gloved. 
The  moment  he  took  his  seat  he  began  to  draw  off  the 
clinging  kids,  while   Mr.  Lincoln  began  to  draw  his  on  ! 

"No  !  no  !  no  !"  protested  his  friend,  tugging  at  his 
gloves.  "It  is  none  of  my  doings;  put  up  your  gloves, 
Mr.  Lincoln." 

So  the  two  old    friends  were  on  even  and    easy  terms, 

and  had  their  ride  after  their  old  fashion. 

:o: 


MRS.  GEN.    JOHN    A    LOGAN. 

Lincoln's  High  Compliment  to   the   Women  of 

America. 

A    Fair  for   the    benefit  of   the  soldiers,    held    at    the 

Patent  Office,  in  Washington,  called  out   Mr.  Lincoln  as 


WHITE    HOUSE    I XCTDENTS.  I  59 

an  interested  visitor;  and  he  was  not  permitted  to  retire 
without  giving  a  word  to  those  in  attendance.  "In  this 
extraordinary  war, "  said  he,  "extraordinary  developments 
have  manifested  themselves,  such  as  have  not  been  seen 
in  former  wars;  and  among  these  manifestations  nothing 
has  been  more  remarkable  than  these  fairs  for  the  relief 
of  suffering  soldiers  and  their  families,  And  the  chief 
agents  in  these  fairs  are  the  women  of  America.  I  am 
not  accustomed  to  the  use  of  language  of  eulogy;  I  have 
never  studied  the  art  of  paying  compliments  to  women; 
but  I  must  say  that  if  all  that  has  been  said  by  orators 
and  poets  since  the  creation  of  the  world,  in  praise  of 
women,  were  applied  to  the  women  of  America,  it  would 
not  do  them  justice  for  their  conduct  during  the  war.  I 
will  close  by  saying,  God  bless  the  women  of  America  !'' 


-:o: 


Lincoln  in  the  Hour  of  Great  Sorrow. 

In  February,  1862,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  visited  by  a  severe 
affliction  in  the  death  of  his  beautiful  son,  Willie,  and  the 
extreme  illness  of  his  son  Thomas,  familiarly  called 
"Tad."  This  was  a  new  burden,  and  the  visitation 
which,  in  his  firm  faith  in  Providence,  he  regarded  as 
providential,  was  also  inexplicable.  A  Christian  lady 
from  Massachusetts,  who  was  officiating  as  nurse  in  one  of 
the  hospitals  at  the  time,  came  to  attend  the  sick  chil- 
dren. She  reports  that  Mr.  Lincoln  watched  with  her 
about  the  bedside  of  the  sick  ones,  and  that  he  often 
walked  the  room,  saying  sadly: 

"This  is  the  hardest  trial  of  my  life;  why  is  it  ?  Why 
is  it  ?" 

In  the  course  of  conversations  with  her,  he  questioned 


l6o  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND   SPEECHES. 

her  concerning  his  situation.  She  told  him  that  she  was 
a  widow,  and  that  her  husbad  and  two  children  were  in 
heaven;  and  added  that  she  saw  the  hand  of  God  in  it  all, 
and  that  she  had  never  loved  Him  so  much  before  as  she 
had  since  her  affliction. 

"How  is  that  brought  about  ?"    inquired  Mr.  Lincoln. 


"Simply  by  trusting  in  God,  and  feeling  that  He  does 
all  things  well,"  she  replied. 

"Did  you  submit  fully  under  the  first  loss  ?"   he  asked, 

"No,"  she  answered,  "not  wholly;  but,  as  blow  came 
upon  blow,  and  all  were  taken,  I  could  and  did  submit, 
and  was  very  happy." 

He  responded:  "I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  that. 
Your  experience  will  help  me  to  bear  my  affliction." 


WHITE  HOUSE  INCIDENTS.  l6l 

On  being  assured  that  many  Christians  were  praying 
for  him  on  the  morning  of  the  funeral,  he  wiped  away 
the  tears  that  sprang  in  his  eyes,  and  said: 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  that.  I  want  them  to  pray  for  me. 
I  need  their  prayers." 

As  he  was  going  out  to  the  burial,  the  good  lady  ex- 
pressed her  sympathy  with  him.  He  thanked  her  gently, 
and  said: 

"I  will  try  to  go  to  God  with  my  sorrows." 

A  few  days  afterward  she  asked  him  if  he  could  trust 
God.      He  replied: 

"I  think  I  can,  and  will  try.  I  wish  I  had  that  child- 
like faith  you  speak  of,  and  I  trust  He  will  give  it  to  me." 
And  then  he  spoke  of  his  mother,  whom  so  many  years 
before  he  had  committed  to  the  dust  among  the  wilds  of 
Indiana.  In  this  hour  of  his  great  trial  the  memory  of 
her  who  had  held  him  upon  her  bosom,  and  soothed  his 
childish  griefs,  came  back  to  him  with  tenderest  recollec- 
tions. "I  remember  her  prayers,"  said  he,  "and  they 
have  always  followed  me.  They  have  clung  to  me  all  my 
life." 


-:c:- 


A  Praying  President. 

After  the  second  defeat  of  Bull  Run,  Mr.  Lincoln  ap- 
peared very  much  distressed  about  the  number  of  killed 
and  wounded,  and  said  to  a  lady  friend:  "I  have  done 
the  best  I  could.  I  have  asked  God  to  guide  me,  and 
now  I  must  leave  the  event  with  him." 

On  another  occasion,  having  been  made  acquainted 
with  the  fact  that  a  great  battle  was  in  progress  at  a  dis- 
tant but  important  point,  he  came    into  the  room  where 


1 62  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

this  lady  was  engaged  in  nursing  a  member  of  the  family, 
looking  worn  and  haggard,  and  saying  that  he  was  so 
anxious  that  he  could  eat  nothing.  The  possibility  of  de- 
feat depressed  him  greatly;  but  the  lady  told  him  he  must 
trust,  and  that  he  could  at  least  pray. 

''Yes,"  said  he,  and  taking  up  a  Bible,  he  started  for 
his  room. 

Could  all  the  people  of  the  nation  have  overheard  the 
earnest  petition  that  went  up  from  that  inner  chamber 
as  it  reached  the  ears  of  the  nurse,  they  would  have 
fallen  upon  their  knees  with  tearful  and  reverential  sym- 
pathy. 

At  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  a  telegram  reached 
him  announcing  a  Union  victory;  and  then  he  came  di- 
rectly to  the  room,   his  face  beaming  with  joy,  saying: 

"Good  news  !  Good  news  !  The  victory  is  ours,  and 
God  is  good." 

"Nothing  like  prayer,"  suggested  the  pious  lady,  who 
traced  a  direct  connection  between  the  event  and  the 
prayer  which  preceded  it. 

"Yes,  there  is,"  he  replied — "praise — prayer  and 
praise." 

The  good    lady  who   communicates  these    incidents, 

closes  them  with  the  words:      "I  do  believe  he  was  a  true 

Christian,  though  he  had  very  little  confidence  in  him- 
self. 

:o: 


Telling  a  Story  and  Pardoning  a  Soldier. 

General  Fisk,  attending  the  reception  at  the  White 
House  on  one  occasion  saw,  waiting  in  the  ante-room,  a 
poor  old  man  from  Tennessee.      Sitting  down  beside  him. 


WHITE    HOUSE     INCIDENTS.  163 

he  inquired  his  errand,  and  learned  that  he  had  been 
waiting  three  or  four  days  to  get  an  audience,  and  that 
on  his  seeing  Mr.  Lincoln  probably  depended  the  life  of 
his  son,  who  was  under  sentence  of  death  for  some  mili- 
tary offense. 

General  Fisk  wrote  his  case  in  outline  on  a  card,  and 
sent  it  in,  with  a  special  request  that  the  President  would 
see  the  man.  In  a  moment  the  order  came;  and  past 
senators,  governors  and  generals,  waiting  impatiently, 
the  old  man  went  into  the  President's  presence. 

He  showed  Mr.  Lincoln  his  papers,  and  he,  on  taking 
them,  said  he  would  look  into  the  case  and  give  him  the 
result  on  the  following  day. 

The  old  man,  in  an  agony  of  apprehension,  looked  up 
into  the  President's  sympathetic  face,  and  actually  cried 
out: 

"To-morrow  may  be  too  late  !  My  son  is  under  sen- 
tence of  death  !  The  decision  ought  to  be  made  now  !" 
and  the    streaming   tears  told  how  much  he  was  moved. 

"Come,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "wait  a  bit,  and  I'll  tell 
you  a  story;"  and  then  he  told  the  old  man  General  Fisk's 
story  about  the  swearing  driver,  as  follows: 

The-  General  had  begun  his  military  life  as  a  Colonel, 
and,  when  he  raised  his  regiment  in  Missouri,  he  pro- 
posed to  his  men  that  he  should  do  all  the  swearing  of 
the  regiment.  They  assented;  and  for  months  no  in- 
stance was  known  of  the  violation  of  the  promise.  The 
Colonel  had  ^c  teamster  named  John  Todd,  who,  as  roads 
were  not  always  the  best,  had  some  difficulty  in  com- 
manding his  temper  and  his  tongue.  John  happened  to 
be  driving  a  mule  team  through  a  series  of  mud-holes  a 
little  worse  than  usual,  when,  unable  to  restrain  himself 


164  Lincoln's  stories  a\*n  speeches. 

any  longer,  he  burst  forth  into  a  volley  of  energetic  oaths. 
The  Colonel  took  notice  of  the  offense,  and  brought  John 
to  an  account. 

"John,"  said  he,  "didn't  you  promise  to  let  me  do  all 
the  swearing  of  the  regiment  ?" 

"Yes,  I  did,  Colonel,"  he  replied,  "but  the  fact  was 
the  swearing  had  to  be  done  then  or  not  at  all,  and  you 
weren't  thereto  do  it." 

As  he  told  the  story,  the  old  man  forgot  his  boy,  and 
both  the  President  and  his  listener  had  a  hearty  laugh  to- 
gether at  its  conclusion.  Then  he  wrote  a  few  words 
which  the  old  man  read,  and  in  which  he  found  new  oc- 
casion for  tears;  but  the  tears  were  tears  of  joy,  for  the 
words  saved  the  life  of  his  son. 


:o:- 


Bishop  Turner's    Reminiscences. 

Bishop  H.  M.  Turner,  of  the  African  M  E.  Church,  in 
the  Northwestern  Advocate,  says: 

I  well  remember  President  Lincoln.  My  recollections 
of  his  form,  size,  visage,  walk,  the  easy  swing  of  his 
body,  stern  but  pleasant  countenan,c,  eyeflash  and  rapid 
wink,  the  forward  bend  of  his  person,  when  speaking, 
the  genial  smile  which  lit  up  his  face  occasionally,  re- 
moving the  impression  that  he  was  a  man  of  sad  and  for- 
lorn disposition,  the  prominent  forehead  somewhat  re- 
ceding toward  the  top,  and  visibly  wrinkled  just  above 
the  eyebrows,  the  projecting  nose,  and  disheveled  hair — 
are  vivid  and  distinct.  There  was  nothing  about  him  that 
was  repulsive  or  frigorific,  yet  there  was  a  dignity  and 
genial  majesty  that  would  make  anyone  feel  when 
brought  in  contact  with  him  that  he  was  in  the  presence 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  1 65 

of  no  ordinary  man.  A  little  child  might  be  wooed  by 
the  magic  touch  of  his  friendship,  gentleness  and  the  ten- 
derness of  his  nature;  while  a  king  or  an  emperor  might 
feel  that  a  peer  was  in  his  presence.  He  had  none  of 
the  qualities  of  the  dude,  the  assumptions  of  a  cavalier, 
the  display  of  the  knight,  nor  the  pretensions  of  an  aristo- 
crat .  If  he  ever  had  a  suit  of  clothes  that  fitted  him  I 
never  saw  it.  Yet  I  have  seen  him  scores  of  times — 
walking  the  streets,  riding  in  his  carriage,  speaking  from 
the  platform,  delivering  his  inaugural  on  the  east  side  of 
the  capitol,  in  the  executive  mansion,  inspecting  the  army 
in  front  of  Petersburg  with  General  Grant,  and  in  the  de- 
partment of  war  exchanging  words  with  that  lordly, 
stern,  and  inflexible  man  of  iron  nerve,  Edwin  M.  Stan- 
ton, his  great  Secretary  of  war. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1862  a  portly  but  venerable-looking 
colored  gentleman  from  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  came  to 
Washington  and  assuming  to  represent  a  large  body  of 
colored  men  who  were  anxious  to  enlist  as  soldiers  in  the 
army  to  defend  their  country  and  its  flag,  he  delivered  a 
most  eloquent  speech  to  a  crowded  house  in  my  church, 
and  requested  me  to  accompany  him  in  waiting  upon  the 
President  and  presenting  the  readiness  of  his  constituents 
to  bleed  and  die  for  the  country.  After  some  delay  we 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  President,  and  he  delivered  one 
of  the  most  eloquent  addresses  to  President  Lincoln  in 
the  space  of  ten  minutes  I  have  ever  heard  since  or  be- 
fore. At  the  conclusion  of  his  grandiloquent  speech  the 
President  responded  in  a  few  words,  thanking  him  for  his 
visit,  for  his  patriotic  sentiments,  and  requested  him  to 
return  home  and  get  the  names,  streets,  and  numbers  of 
this  army  of  would-be  colored  soldiers  and  bring  them  to 


1 66 


Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 


him,  and  he  would  call  for  them  at  his  earliest  con- 
venience. We  left  the  White  House  together;  he  was  a 
little  chagrined  and  crestfallen,  and  disappeared  from  the 
city  to  return  no  more.  The  truth  is,  he  represented  no- 
body but  himself.  He  thought  that  Mr.  Lincoln  would 
commission  him  a  lieutenant  or  captain  to  drum  up  col- 
ored soldiers;  but  when  the  President  failed  to  do  so  he 
had  no  further  use  for  him. 

The  first  colored  regiment  which  was  raised  and  or- 
ganized under  the  direct  auspices  of  the  general  govern- 
ment (I  do  not  refer  to  those  enlisted  by  General  Butler 
in  New  Orleans  or  Governor  Andrews  in   Massachusetts) 


was  raised  in  Washington,  D.  C.  The  first  two  com- 
panies were  enlisted  in  the  basement  of  Israel  Church; 
but  the  regiment  was  completed  on  Mason's  Island,  just 
across  the  Potomac  from  Washington  City.  All  the  com- 
missioned officers,  being  white,  were  appointed  from  the 
colonel  down,  and  a  white  chaplain  had  been  assigned  to 
duty  in  the  same  regiment  temporarily  by  the  colonel  in 
command.  This  writer,  however,  was  the  choice  of  the 
colored  members  of  the  regiment  for  the  position  of  chap- 
lain, and,    at  their  solicitation,  I  applied    for  the   same. 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  1 67 

Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War,  and  Hon. 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  after- 
ward Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
were  favorable;  but  the  other  cabinet  officers  were  either 
unfavorable  or  in  doubt  as  to  the  advisability  of  making 
a  colored  man  a  commissioned  officer  in  any  form;  at 
least,  I  was  so  informed  by  Secretary  Chase.  When  the 
question  came  up  in  the  cabinet  for  final  decision  before 
Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr.  Stanton  and  Mr.  Chase  held  that  the 
colored  soldiers  should  have  their  own  spiritual  director 
and  guide,  and  that  my  labors  in  the  organization  of  the 
regiment  entitled  me  to  the  position.  Messrs.  Seward, 
Blair,  Welles,  and  others  of  the  cabinet  thought  it  rather 
too  early  to  risk  public  sentiment  in  commissioning  a  col- 
ored man  to  any  position  whatever.  Mr.  Lincoln  sat 
with  great  patience  and  heard  the  discussion,  but  finally 
put  a  quietus  to  the  question  at  issue  by  saying,  "Well, 
we  have  far  graver  matters  for  consideration  than  this," 
and,  turning  to  the  secretary  of  war,  simply  said,  "Stan- 
ton, issue  his  commission  as  chaplain.  Now,  gentlemen, 
let  us  proceed  to  business-"  Mr.  Chase  sent  for  me  the 
same  afternoon  to  come  to  his  residence,  and,  after  con- 
gratulating me  upon  being  a  United  States  chaplain,  and 
the  first  one  of  my  race  to  receive  a  commission,  gave  a 
detailed  narrative  of  the  whole  transaction,  but  pledged 
me  to  secresy.  I  do  not  think  I  am  violating  the  con- 
tract in  relating  it  at  this  remote  period. 


-:o: 


Seward  and  Chase. 

The    antagonism     between    the    conservatives    repre- 
sented in  the  cabinet    by  Seward  and   the  radicals,  rep- 


1 68  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

resented  by  Chase,  was  a  source  of  much  embarrassment 
to  Mr.  Lincoln.  Finally  the  radicals  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  demand  the  dismissal  of  Seward.  Before  the 
committee  arrived  Mr.  Seward,  in  order  to  relieve  the 
President  of  embarrassment,  tendered  his  resignation.  In 
the  course  of  the  discussion  with  the  committee  Mr. 
Chase  found  his  position  so  embarrassing  and  equivocal 
that  he  thought  it  wise  to  tender  his  resignation  the  next 
day.  Mr.  Lincoln  refused  to  accept  either,  stating  that 
"the  public  interest  does  not  admit  of  it."  When  it  was 
all  over  he  said:  "Now  I  can  ride;  I  have  got  a  pumpkin 
in  each  end  of  my  bag. "  Later  on  he  said:  "I  do  not 
see  how  it  could  have  been  done  better.  I  am  sure  it 
was  right.  If  I  had  yielded  to  that  storm,  and  dismissed 
Seward,  the  thing  would  have  slumped  over  one  way,  and 
we  should  have  been  left  with  a  scanty  handful  of  sup- 
porters, " 


:o: 


Mr.  Lincoln's  Remedy  for  Baldness. 

In  1864  Mr.  Lincoln  was  greatly  bothered  by  the  well- 
meant  but  ill-advised  efforts  of  certain  good  Northern 
men  to  bring  about  a  termination  of  the  war.  An  old 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  very  bland  and  entirely 
bald,  was  especially  persistent  and  troublesome.  Again 
and  again  he  appeared  before  the  President,  and  was  got 
rid  of  by  one  and  another  ingenious  expedient.  One  day 
when  this  angel  of  mercy  had  been  boring  Mr.  Lincoln 
for  half  an  hour  to  the  interruption  of  important  business, 
the  President  suddenly  arose,  went  to  a  closet,  and  took 
out  of  it  a  large  bottle.  "Did  you  ever  try  this  remedy 
for  baldness  ?"  he  asked,  holding  up  the  bottle  before  his 


WHITE    HOUSE    INCIDENTS.  1 69 

astonished  visitor.  No;  the  man  was  obliged  to  confess 
that  he  never  had  tried  it.  Mr.  Lincoln  called  a  servant, 
had  the  bottle  wrapped  up,  and  handed  it  to  the  bald 
philanthropist.  "There,"  said  he,  "go  and  rub  some  of 
that  on  your  head.  Persevere.  They  say  it  will  make 
your  hair  grow.  Come  back  in  about  three  months  and 
report."  And  almost  before  he  knew  it  the  good  man 
was  outside  of  the  door  with  the  package  under  his  arm. 


■:o:- 


In  all  the  great  emergencies  of  his  closing  years  Mr. 
Lincoln's  reliance  upon  Divine  guidance  and  assistance 
was  often  extremely  touching. 

"I  have  been  driven  many  times  to  my  knees,"  he  once 
remarked,  "by  the  overwhelming  conviction  that  I  had 
nowhere  else  to  go.  My  own  wisdom,  and  that  of  all 
about  me,  seemed  insufficient  for  that  day." 


(i7o) 


WAR    STORIES. 


Story  of  Andy  Johnson  and  His   Doubtful 
Interest  in  Prayers. 

Col.  Moody,  "the  fighting. Methodist  parson,"  as  he 
was  called  in  Tennessee,  while  attending  a  conference  in 
Philadelphia,  met  the  President  and  related  to  him  the 
following  story,  which  we  give  as  repeated  by  Mr.  Lin- 
coln to  a  friend. 

"He  told  me,"  said  Lincoln,  "this  story  of  Andy 
Johnson  and  General  Buel  which  interested  me  in- 
tensely: 

The  Colonel  happened  to  be  in  Nashville  the  day  it  was 
reported  that  Buel  had  decided  to  evacuate  the  city.  The 
Rebels,  strongly  re-enforced,  were  said  to  be  within  two 
days'  march  of  the  capitol.  Of  course  the  city  was  greatly 
excited. 

Moody  said  he  went  in  search  of  Johnson,  at  the  edge 
of  the  evening,  and  found  him  at  his  office  closeted  with 
two  gentlemen,  who  were  walking  the  floor  with  him,  one 

[I7i] 


1/2  LIX'COLNS  stories  and  speeches. 

on  each  side.  As  he  entered,  they  retired,  leaving  him 
alone  with  Johnson,  who  came  up  to  him,  manifesting  in- 
tense feeling,  and  said: 

"Moody,  we  are  sold  out.  Buel  is  a  traitor.  He  is 
going  to  evacuate  the  city,  and  in  forty-eight  hours  we 
will  all  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Rebels!  " 

Then  he  commenced  pacing  the  floor  again,  twisting 
his  hands  and  chafing  like  a  caged  tiger,  utterly  insensible 
to  his  friend's  entreaties  to  become  calm.  Suddenly  he 
turned  and  said: 

"Moody,  can  you  pray?" 

"That  is  my  business,  sir,  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel, 
returned  the  Colonel. 

"Well,  Moody,  I  wish  you  would  pray,"  said  Johnson, 
and  instantly  both  went  down  upon  their  knees,  at  oppo- 
site sides  of  the  room. 

As  the  prayer  waxed  fervent  Johnson  began  to  respond 
in  true  Methodist  style.  Presently  he  crawled  over  on 
his  hands  and  knees  to  Moody's  side  and  put  his  arm  over 
him,  manifesting  the  deepest  emotion.  Closing  the  prayer 
with  a  hearty  "Amen  "  from  each,  they  arose. 

Johnson  took  a  long  breath  and  said  with  empha- 
sis: 

' «  Moody,  I  feel  better. " 

Shortly  afterwards  he  asked: 

"Will  you  stand  by  me?  " 

"Certainly  I  will,"  was  the  answer. 

"Well,  Moody,  I  can  depend  upon  you;  you  are  one 
in  a  hundred  thousand." 

He  then  commenced  pacing  the  floor  again.  Suddenly 
he  wheeled,  the  current  of  his  thought  having  changed, 
and  said: 


WAR    STORIES.  T73 

"  Oh!  Moody,  I  don't  want  you  to  think  I  have  become 
a  religious  man  because  I  asked  you  to  pray.  I  am  sorry 
to  say  it,  I  am  not,  and  never  pretended  to  be,  religious. 
No  one  knows  this  better  than  you,  but,  Moody,  there  is 
one  thing  about  it — I  do  believe  in  Almighty  God!  and  I 
believe  also  in  the  Bible,  and  I  say,  d n  me  if  Nash- 
ville shall  be    surrendered! " 

And  Nashville  was  not  surrendered. 


:o:- 


A  Soldier  that  Knew  No   Royalty. 

Captain  Mix,  the  commander  at  one  period  of  the 
President's  body-guard,  told  this  story  to  a  friend: 

On  their  way  to  town  one  sultry  morning,  from  the 
Soldiers'  Home,  they  came  upon  a  regiment  marching  in- 
to the  city.  A  "stragler,"  very  heavily  loaded  with  camp 
equipage,  was  accosted  by  the  President  with  the  ques- 
tion: 

■'My  lad,  what  is  that?"  referring  to  the  designation 
of  his  regiment. 

"  It's  a  regiment,"  said  the  soldier  curtly,  plodding  on, 
his  gaze  bent  steadily  upon  the  ground. 

"  Yes,  I  see  that,"  responded  the  President,  "  but  I 
want  to  know  what  regiment." 

" Pennsylvania,"  replied  the  man  in  the  same  tone, 

looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  the  left. 

As  the  carriage  passed  on,  Mr.  Lincoln  turned  to  Cap- 
tain Mix  and  said,  with  a  merry  laugh: 

"It  is  very  evident  that  fellow  smells  no  blood  of  'roy- 
alty' in  this  establishment." 


174  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

A  Little  Soldier  Boy. 

"President  Lincoln,"  says  the  Hon .  W.  D.  Kell,  "was 
a  large  and  many-sided  man,  and  yet  so  simple  that  no 
one,  not  even  a  child,  could  approach  him  without  feel- 
ing that  he  had  found  in  him  a  sympathizing  friend.  I 
remember  that  I  apprised  him  of  the  fact  that  a  lad,  the 
son  of  one  of  my  townsmen,  had  served  a  year  on  the 
gunboat  Ottawa,  and  had  been  in  two  important  en- 
gagements; in  the  first  as  a  powder-monkey,  when  he 
had  conducted  himself  with  such  coolness  that  he  had 
chosen  as  captain's  messenger  in  the  second;  and  I  sug- 
gested to  the  President  that  it  was  within  his  power  to 
send  to  the  Naval  School  annually  three  boys  who  had 
served  at  least  a  year  in  the  navy. 

He  at  once  wrote  on  the  back  of  a  letter  from  the 
commander  of  the  Ottawa,  which  I  had  handed  him,  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy: 

"If  the  appointments  for  this  year  have  not  been 
made,  let  this  boy  be  appointed." 

The  appointment  had  not  been  made,  and  I  brought 
it  home  with  me.  It  directed  the  lad  to  report  for  ex- 
amination at  the  school  in  July.  Just  as  he  was  ready 
to  start  his  father,  looking  over  the  law,  discovered  that 
he  could  not  report  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age,  which  he  would  not  be  until  September  follow- 
ing. 

The  poor  child  sat  down  and  wept.  He  feared  that  he 
was  not  to  go  to  the  naval  school.  He  was,  however, 
soon  consoled  by  being  told  that  "the  President  could 
make  it  right." 

It  was  my  fortune  to  meet  him  the  next  morning  at  the 
door  of  the  Executive  Chamber  with  his  father. 


WAR    STORIES.  I  75 

Taking  by  the  hand  the  little  fellow — short  for  his  age, 
dressed  in  the  sailor's  blue  pants  and  shirt — I  advanced 
with  him  to  the  President,  who  sat  in  his  usual  seat,  and 
said: 

"  Mr.  President,  my  young  friend,  Willie  Bladen,  finds 
a  difficulty  about  his  appointment.  You  have  directed 
him  to  appear  at  the  school  in  July;  but  he  is  not  yet 
fourteen  years  of  age." 

But  before  I  got  half  of  this  out,  Mr.  Lincoln,  laying 
down  his  spectacles,  said: 

"Bless  me!  Is  that  the  boy  who  did  so  gallantly  in 
those  two  great  battles?  Why,  I  feel  that  I  should  bow 
to  him,  and  not  he  to  me." 

The  little  fellow  had  made  his  graceful  bow. 

The  President  took  the  papers  at  once,  and  as  soon  as 
a  postponement  until  September  would  suffice,  made  the 
order  that  the  lad  should  report  in  that  month.  Then, 
putting  his  hand  on  Willie's  head,  he  said: 

"  Now,  my  boy  go  home  and  have  good  fun  during  the 
two  months,  for  they  are  about  the  last  holiday  you  will 
get." 

The  little  fellow  bowed  himself  out,  feeling  that  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  though  a  very  great  man, 
was  one  that  he  would  nevertheless  like  to  have  a  game 
of  romps  with. 

:o: 

Sallie  Ward's  Practical  Philosophy. 

When  the  telegram  from  Cumberland  Gap  reached 
Mr.  Lincoln  that  "  firing  was  heard  in  the  direction  of 
Knoxville,"  he  remarked  that  he  was  "glad  of  it."  Some 
person  present,  who  had    the    perils  of  Burnside's  posi- 


176  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches.* 

tion  uppermost  in  his  mind,  could  not  see  why  Mr.  Lin- 
coln should  be  glad  of  it,  and  so  expressed  himself. 

"Why,  you  see,"  responded  the  President,  "it  reminds 
me  of  Mrs.  Sallie  Ward,  a  neighbor  of  mine,  who  had  a 
very  large  family.  Occasionally  one  of  her  numerous 
progeny  would  be  heard  crying  in  some  out-of-the-way 
place,  upon  which  Mrs.  Ward  would  exclaim: 

'There's  one  of  my  children  that  isn't  dead  yet.'" 


■:o: 


Pardons  a  Soldier. 

The  Hon.  Mr.  Kellogg,  representative  from  Essex  Co. , 
N.  Y. ,  received  a  dispatch  one  evening  from  the  army  to 
the  effect  that  a  young  townsman  who  had  been  induced 
to  enlist  through  his  instrumentality  had,  for  a  serious 
misdemeanor  been  convicted  by  a  court-martial  and  was 
to  be  shot  the  next  da}-.  Greatly  agitated,  Mr.  Kellogg 
went  to  the  Secretary  of  War  and  urged,  in  the  strongest 
manner,  a  reprieve.      Stanton  was  inexorable. 

"Too  many  cases  of  the  kind  had  been  let  off,"  he 
said,   "and  it  was  time  an  example  was  made." 

Exhausting  his  eloquence  in  vain,  Mr.  Kellogg  said: 

' '  Well,  Mr.  Secretary,  the  boy  is  not  going  to  be  shot, 
of  that  I  give  you  fair  warning!" 

Leaving  the  War  Department,  he  went  directly  to  the 
White  House,  although  the  hour  was  late.  The  sentinel 
on  duty  told  him  that  special  orders  had  been  issued  to 
admit  no  one  whatever  that  night. 

After  a  long  parley,  by  pledging  himself  to  assume  the 
responsibility  of  the  act,  the  Congressman  passed  in. 
M.  Lincoln  had  retired,  but  indifferent  to  etiquette  or  cer- 
imony,  Judge  Kellogg  pressed  his  way  through  all  obsta- 


WAR    STORIES.  1 77 

cles  to  his  sleeping  apartment.  In  an  excited  manner  he 
stated  that  the  dispatch  announcing  the  hour  of  execu- 
tion had  but  just  reached  him. 

"This  man  must  not  be  shot,  Mr.  President,"  said  he. 
"I  can't  help  what  he  may  have  done.  Why,  he  is  an 
old  neighbor  of  mine;  I  can't  allow  him  to  be  shot!" 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  remained  in  bed,  quietly  listening  to 
the  vehement  protestations  of  his  old  friend  (they  were 
in  Congress  together).      He  at  length  said: 

"Well,  I  don't  believe  shooting  will  do  him  any  good. 
Give  me  that  pen." 

And  so  saying  "red  tape"  was  uncerimoniously  cut, 
and  another  poor  fellow's  life  was  indefinitely  ex- 
tended. 


Lincoln's  Vow. 

The  following  incident,  remarkable  for  its  significant 
facts,  is  related  by  Mr.  Carpenter,  the  artist: 

Mr.  Chase,  said  Mr.  Carpenter,  told  me  that  at  the 
Cabinet  meeting  immediately  after  the  battle  of  Antie- 
tam  and  just  prior  to  the  issue  of  the  September  procla- 
mation, the  President  entered  upon  the  business  before 
them  by  saying: 

11  The  time  for  the  annunciation  of  the  emancipation 
proclamation  could  be  no  longer  delayed.  Public  senti- 
ment would  sustain  it — many  of  his  warmest  friends  and 
supporters  demanded  it — and  he  had  promised  his  God 
he  would  do  it!  " 

The  last  part  of  this  was  uttered  in  a  low  tone,  and  ap- 
peared to  be  heard  by  no  one  but  Secretary  Chase,  who 


178  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

was  sitting  near  him.      He  asked  the  President  if  he  cor- 
rectly understood  him.      Mr.  Lincoln  replied: 

"  I  made  a  solemn  vow  before  God  that  if  General  Lee 
was  driven  back  from  Pennsylvania,  I  would  crowm  the 
result  by  the  declaration  of  freedom  to  the  slaves." 

In  February,  1865,  a  few  days  after  the  constitutional 
amendment,  I  went  to  Washington  and  was  received  by 
Mr.  Lincoln  with  the  kindness  and  familiarity  which  had 
characterized  our  previous  intercourse. 

I  said  to  him  at  this  time  that  I  was  very  proud  to  have 
been  the  artist  to  have  first  conceived  of  the  design  of 
painting  a  picture  commemorative  of  the  Act  of  Eman- 
cipation; that  subsequent  occurrences  had  only  confirm- 
ed my  first  judgment  of  that  act  as  the  most  sublime 
moral  event  in  our  history. 

"Yes,"  said  he — and  never  do  I  remember  to  have  no- 
ticed in  him  more  earnestness  of  expression  or  manner — 
"as  affairs  have  turned,  it  is  the  central  act  of  my  ad- 
ministration, and  the  great  event  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. 

:o: 

"Borrowing  the  Army." 

On  a  certain  occasion  the  President  said  to  a  friend 
that  he  was  in  great  distress;  he  had  been  to  General 
McClellan's  house  and  the  General  did  not  ask  to  see 
him;  and  as  he  must  talk  to  somebody  he  had  sent  for 
General  Franklin  and  my  self,  to  obtain  our  opinions  as 
to  the  possibility  of  soon  commencing  active  operations 
with  the  army  of  tho  Potomac .  To  use  his  own  expres- 
sion, if  something  was  not  done  soon  the  bottom  would 
fall  out  of  the    whole    affair;   and  if  General  McClellan 


WAR    STORIES.  I  79 

did  not  want  to  use  the  army,  he  would  like  to  borrow  it, 
provided  he  could  see  how  it  could  be  made  to  do  some- 
thing. 

:o: 

Lincoln's  Politeness. 

I  was  always  touched,  says  Mr.  Carpenter,  by  the 
President's  manner  of  receiving  a  salute  of  the  guard  at 
the  White  House. 

Whenever  he  appeared  in  the  portico,  on  his  way  to  or 
from  the  War  or  Treasury  Departments,  or  on  any  ex- 
cursion down  the  avenue,  the  first  glimpse  of  him  was,  of 
course,  the  signal  for  the  sentinel  on  duty  to  "  present 
arms"  and  "call  out  the  guard." 

This  was  always  acknowledged  by  Mr.  Lincoln  with  a 
peculiar  bow  and  touch  of  the  hat,  no  matter  how  many 
times  it  might  occur  in  the  course  of  a  day;  and  it  al- 
ways seemed  to  me  as  much  of  a  compliment  to  the  de- 
votion of  the  soldiers,  on  his  part,  as  it  was  the  sign  of 
duty  and  deference  on  the  part  of  the  guard. 


■:o:- 


His  Visits  to  the  Hospitals. 

On  the  Monday  before  the  assassination,  when  the 
President  was  on  his  way  from  Richmond,  he  stopped  at 
City  Point.  Calling  upon  the  head  surgeon  at  that  place, 
Mr.  Lincoln  told  him  that  he  wished  to  visit  all  the  hos- 
pitals under  his  charge  and  shake  hands  with  every  sol- 
dier. 

The  surgeon  asked  if  he  knew  what  he  was  undertak- 
ing, there  being  five  or  six  thousand  soldiers  at  that 
place,  and  it  would  be  quite  a  tax  upon    his   strength  to 


i8o  Lincoln's  stories  and  spfeches. 

visit  all  the  wards    and    shake    hands  with  every  soldier. 
Mr.  Lincoln  answered  with  a  smile: 

"He  guessed  he  was  equal  to  the  task;  at  any  rate  he 
would  try,  and  go  as  far  as  he  could;  he  should  never, 
probably,  see  the  boys  again,  and  he  wanted  them  to 
know  that  he  appreciated  what  they  had  done  for  their 
country." 

Finding  it  useless  to  try  to  dissuade  him,  the  surgeon 
began  his  rounds  with  the  President,  who  walked  from 
bed  to  bed,  extending  his  hand  to  all,  saying  a  few  words 
of  sympathy  to  some,  making  kind  inquiries  of  oth- 
ers,   and   welcomed   bv    all   with  the  heartiest  cordial- 

ity- 

As  they  passed  along  they  came  to  a  ward  in  which  lay 
a  rebel  who  had  been  wounded  and  was  a  prisoner.  As 
the  tall  figure  of  the  kindly  visitor  appeared  in  sight,  he 
was  recognized  by  the  rebel  soldier,  who,  raising  himself 
on  his  elbow  in  bed,  watched  Mr.  Lincoln  as  he  ap- 
proached and  extending  his  hand  exclaimed,  while  tears 
ran  down  his  cheeks: 

"  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  have  long  wanted  to  see  you,  to  ask 
your  forgiveness  for  ever  raising  my  hand  against  the  old 
flag." 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  moved  to  tears.  He  heartily  shook 
the  hand  of  the  repentant  rebel  and  assured  him  of  his 
good  will,  and  with  a  few  words  of  kind  advice  passed 
on. 

After  some  hours  the  tour  of  the  various  hospitals  was 
made,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  returned  with  the  surgeon  to  his 
office.  They  had  scarcely  entered,  however,  when  a  mes- 
senger came  saying  that  one  ward  had  been  omitted,  and 


WAR    STORIES.  iSl 

"the  boys"  wanted  to  see  the  President.  The  surgeon, 
who  was  thoroughly  tired,  and  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  must 
be,  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  going;  but  the  good  man 
said  he  must  go  back;  he  would  knowingly  omit  no  one, 
'  'the  boys"  would  be  so  disappointed.  So  he  went  with 
the  messenger,  accompanied  by  the  surgeon,  and  shook 
hands  with  the  gratified  soldiers,  and  then  returned  again 
to  the  office. 

The  surgeon  expressed  the  fear  that  the  President's  arm 
would  be  lamed  with  so  much  hand-shaking,  saying  it 
certainly  must  ache. 

Mr- Lincoln  smiled,  and  saying  something  about  his 
"strong  muscles,"  stepped  out  at  the  open  door,  took  up 
a  very  large,  heavy  axe  which  lay  there  by  a  log  of  wood, 
and  chopped  vigorously  for  a  few  moments,  sending  the 
chips  flying  in  all  directions;  and  then,  pausing,  he  ex- 
tended his  right  arm  to  its  full  length,  holding  the  axe 
out  horizontally,  without  its  even  quivering  as  he  held 
it. 

Stong  men  who  looked  on — men  accustomed  to  man- 
ual labor — could  not  hold  the  same  axe  in  that  position 
for  a  moment.  Returning  to  the  office  he  took  a  glass  of 
lemonade,  for  he  would  take  no  stronger  beverage;  and 
while  he  was  within  the  chips  he  had  chopped  were 
gathered  up  and  safely  cared  for  by  a  hospital  steward 
because  they  were  "  the  chips  that  Father  Abraham 
chopped." 


1 82  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Mr.  Lincoln  and  a  Clergyman. 

At  the  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  New  Jersey  Histor- 
ical Society,  held  in  Newark,  N.  J. ,  Rev.  Dr.  Sheldon,  at 
Princeton,  read  a  memorial  of  their  late  President,  Rev. 
R.  K.  Rodgers,  D.  D . ,  in  which  appears  the  following 
interesting  incident  concerning  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the 
war: 

One  day  during  the  war  Dr.  Rodgers  was  called  on  by 
a  man  in  his  congregation,  who,  in  the  greatest  distress, 
told  him  that  his  son,  a  soldier  in  the  army,  had  just  been 
sentenced  to  be  shot  for  desertion,  and  begged  the  min- 
ister's interposition. 

The  Doctor  went  to  Washington  with  the  wife  and  in- 
fant child  of  the  condemned  man,  and  sent  his  card  up 
to  Mr.  Lincoln.      When  admitted,  the  President  said: 

"  You  are  a  minister,  I  believe.  What  can  I  do  for 
you,  my  friend?  " 

The  reply  was: 

"  A  young  man  from  my  congregation  in  the  army  has 
so  far  forgotten  his  duty  to  his  country  and  his  God  as  to 
desert  his  colors,  and  is  sentenced  to  die.  I  have  come 
to  ask  you  to  spare  him." 

With  characteristic  quaintness  the  President  replied: 

"Then  you  don't  want  him  hurt,  do  you?" 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  the  petitioner,  "  I  did  not  mean  that; 
he  deserves  punishment,  but  I  beg  for  him  time  to  pre- 
pare to  meet  his  God." 

"Do  you  say  he  has  father,  wife  and  child?"  said  Mr. 
Lincoln. 

"Yes." 

"Where  do  you  say  he  is?" 


WAR    STORIES.  1 83 

On  being  told,  he  turned  to  his  secretary,  said  a  few 
words  in  an  undertone,  of  which  that  official  made  note, 
and  added  to  Dr.  Rodgers: 

"Ycu  have  your  request.  Tell  his  friends  I  have  re- 
prieved him." 

With  a  "  God  bless  you,  Mr.  President,"  Dr.  Rodgers 
turned  away  to  bear  the  glad  news  to  the  distressed  fam- 
ily. 


-:o: 


A  Remarkable  Letter. 

The  following  remarkable  letter  from  Lincoln  to  Gen- 
eral Hooker  was  written  after  the  latter  had  taken  com- 
mand of  the  Potomac,  in  January,  1863,  and  while  the 
President  yet  retained  it  in  his  possession  an  intimate 
friend  chanced  to  be  in  his  Cabinet  one  night,  and  the 
President  read  it  to  him,   remarking: 

"I  shall  not  read  this  to  anybody  else,  but  I  want  to 
know  how  it  strikes  you." 

During  the  following  April  or  May,  while  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  lay  opposite  Fredericksburg,  this  friend  ac- 
companied the  President  to  General  Hooker's  headquar- 
ters on  a  visit.  One  night  General  Hooker,  alone  with 
this  gentleman  in  his  tent,   said: 

"The  President  says  that  he  showed  you  this  letter," 
and  he  then  took  out  that  document,  which  was  closely 
written  on  a  sheet  of  letter-paper.  The  tears  stood  in 
the  General's  bright  blue  eyes  as  he  added: 

"It  is  such  a  letter  as  a  father  might  have  written  to 
his  son,  and  yet  it  hurt  me." 

And  then,  dashing  the  water  from  his  eyes,  he  said: 


1 84  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

"  When  I  have  been    to    Richmond,  I  shall  have  this 
letter  published." 

This  was  more  than  sixteen  years  ago,  and  the  letter 
has  just  now  seen  the  light  of  day.  There  are  in  it  cer- 
tain sharp  passages  which,  after  this  long  lapse  of  time, 
can  not  be  verified  by  the  memory  of  any  who  heard  it 
read  in  1863.  There  are  others  which  seem  missing. 
Nevertheless,  the  letter,  which  is  herewith  reprinted, 
must  have  been  written  by  Lincoln: 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  D,  C,  Jan,  26,  1863.  Maj.-Gen. 
Hooker — General:  I  have  placed  you  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac. Of  course  I  have  done  this  upon  what  appears  to  me  to  be  suffi- 
cient reasons;  and  yet  I  think  it  best  for  you  to  know  that  there  are  some 
things  in  regard  to  which  I  am  not  qnite  satisfied  with  you.  I  believe 
you  to  be  a  brave  and  skillful  soldier — which,  of  course,  I  like.  I  also 
believe  you  do  not  mix  politics  with  your  profession — in  which  you  are 
right.  You  have  confidence  in  yourself — which  is  a  valuable,  if  not  an 
indispensable,  quality.  You  are  ambitious — which,  within  reasonable 
bounds,  does  good  rather  than  harm;  but  I  think  that  during  General 
Burnside's  command  of  the  army,  you  have  taken  counsel  of  your  ambi- 
tion and  thwarted  him  as  much  as  you  could,  in  which  you  did  a  great 
wrong  to  the  country,  and  to  a  most  meritorious  and  honorable  brother- 
officer.  I  have  heard,  in  such  a  way  as  to  believe  it,  of  your  recently 
saying  that  both  the  army  and  the  Government  needed  a  Dictator.  Of 
course,  it  was  not  for  this,  but  in  spite  of  it,  that  I  have  given  you  the 
command.  Only  those  Generals  who  win  victories  can  set  up  Dictators. 
What  I  now  ask  of  you  is  military  success,  and  I  will  risk  the  Dictator- 
ship. The  government  will  support  you  to  the  utmost  of  its  ability — 
which  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  it  has  done  and  will  do  for  all  com- 
manders. I  much  fear  that  the  spirit  which  you  have  aided  to  infuse 
into  tne  army,  of  criticising  their  commander  and  withholding  confidence 
from  him,  will  now  turn  upon  you.  I  shall  assist  you  as  far  as  I  can  to 
put  it  down.  Neither  you  nor  Napoleon,  if  he  were  alive  again,  could  get 
any  good  out  of  an  army  while  such  a  spirit  prevails  in  it.  And  now  be- 
ware of  rashness.  Beware  of  rashness,  but,  with  energy  and  sleepless 
vigilance,  go  forward  and  give  us  victories. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

A.  Lincoln. 


WAR    STORIES.  1 85 

A  "Hen-Pecked"  Husband. 

When  General  Phelps  took  possession  of  Ship  Island, 
near  New  Orleans,  early  in  the  war,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  he  issued  a  proclamation,  somewhat  bombas- 
tic in  tone,  freeing  the  slaves.  To  the  surprise  of  many 
people,  on  both  sides,  the  President  took  no  official  no- 
tice of  this  movement.  Some  time  had  elapsed,  when 
one  day  a  friend  took  him  to  task  for  his  seeming  indif- 
ference on  so  important  a  matter. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "I  feel  about  that  a  good 
deal  as  a  man  whom  I  will  call  Jones,  whom  I  once 
knew,  did  about  his  wife.  He  was  one  of  your  meek 
men  and  had  the  reputation  of  being  badly  hen-pecked. 
At  last,  one  day  his  wife  was  seen  switching  him  out  of 
the  house.  A  day  or  two  afterward  a  friend  met  him  in 
the  street  and  said:  'Jones  I  have  always  stood  up  for 
you,  as  you  know;  but  I  am  not  going  to  do  it  any  longer. 
Any  man  who  will  stand  quietly  and  take  a  switching 
from  his  wife,  deserves  to  be  horsewhipped,'  Jones  look- 
ed up  with  a  wink,  patting  his  friend  on  the  back,  '  'Now 
don't,"  said  he,  "why,  it  didn't  hurt  me  any;  and  you've 
no  idea  what  a  power  of  good  it  did  Sarah  Ann? " 


•:o:- 


Lincoln's  Curt  Reply  to  a  Clergyman. 

No  nobler  reply  ever  fell  from  the  lips  of  a  ruler,  than 
that  uttered  by  President  Lincoln  in  response  to  the 
clergyman  who  ventured  to  say,  in  his  presence  during 
the  war,  that  he  hoped  "the  Lord  was  on  our  side." 

"I  am  not  at  all  concerned    about    that,"    replied  Mr. 


1 86  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Lincoln,  '.  'for  I  know  that  the  Lord  is  always  on  the  side 
of  the  right .  But  it  is  my  constant  anxiety  and  prayer 
that  this  nation  should  be  on  the  Lord's  side." 


:o:- 


A  Short  Practical  Sermon. 

On  a  certain  occasion,  two  ladies  from  Tennessee  came 
before  the  President,  asking  the  release  of  their  hus- 
bands, held  as  prisoners  of  war  at  Johnson's  Island. 
They  were  put  off  until  the  following  Friday,  when  they 
came  again,  and  were  again  put  off  until  Saturday,  At 
each  of  the  interviews  one  of  the  ladies  urged  that  her 
husband  was  a  religious  man.  On  Saturday,  when 
the  President  ordered  the  release  of  the  prisoner,  he  said 
to  this  lady: 

"You  say  your  husband  is  a  religious  man;  tell  him, 
when  you  meet  him,  that  I  say  I  am  not  much  of  a  judge 
of  religion,  but  that  in  my  opinion  the  religion  which 
sets  men  to  rebel  and  fight  against  their  Government  be- 
cause, as  they  think,  that  Government  does  not  suffici- 
ently help  some  men  to  eat  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of 
other  men's  faces,  is  not  the  sort  of  religion  upon  which 
people  can  get  to  heaven. " 


-:o:- 


A  Celebrated  Case. 

The  celebrated  case  of  Franklin  W.  Smith  and  broth- 
er, was  one  of  those  which  most  largely  helped  to  bring 
military  tribunals  into  public  contempt.  Those  two  gen- 
tleman were  arrested  and  kept  in  confinement,  their  pa- 
pers seized,    their  business    destroyed,    their    reputation 


WAR    STORIES.  I  87 

damaged  and  a  naval  court-martial  "organized  to  con- 
vict," pursued  them  unrelentingly  till  a  wiser  and  juster 
hand  arrested  the  malice  of  their  prosecutors. 

It  is  known  that  President  Lincoln,  after  full  investi- 
gation of  the  case,  annulled  the  whole  proceedings,  but 
it  is  remarkable  that  the  actual  record  of  his  decision 
could  never  be  obtained  from  the  Navy  Department.  An 
exact  copy  being  withheld,  the  following  was  presented 
to  the  Boston  Board  of  Trade  as  being  very  nearly  the 
words  of  the  late  President: 

"W/iereas,  Franklin  W.  Smith  had  transactions  with 
the  Navy  Department  to  the  amount  of  one  million  and 
a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars;  and,  whereas,  he  had 
the  chance  to  steal  a  quarter  of  a  million,  and  was  only 
charged  with  stealing  twenty-two  hundred  dollars — and 
the  question  now  is  about  his  stealing  a  hundred — I  don't 
believe  he  stole  anything  at  all.  Therefore,  the  record 
and  findings  are  disapproved — declared  null  and  void,  and 
the  defendants  are  fully  discharged." 

"It  would  be  difficult,"  says  the  New  York  Tribune, 
"to  sum  up  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  the  business  more 
briefly  than  that,  or  to  find  a  paragraph  more  character- 
istically and  unmistakably  Mr.  Lincoln's. 


:o, 

Recollections  of   the   War  President  by  Judge 

William  Johnston. 

"I  rendered,"  says  Judge  Johnston,  "Mr.  Lincoln 
some  service  in  my  time.  When  I  went  to  Washington 
I  observed  that  among  Congressmen  and  others  in  high 


1 88  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

places,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  very  few  friends.  Montgomery 
Blair  was  the  only  one  I  heard  speak  of  him  for  a  second 
term. 

'  'This  was  about  the  middle  of  his  first  administration. 
I  went  to  Washington  by  way  of  Columbus,  and  G. 
Tod  asked  me  to  carry  a  verbal  message  to  Mr.  Lincoln, 
and  that  was  to  tell  him  that  there  were  certain  el- 
ements indispensable  to  the  success  of  the  war  that 
would  be  seriously  affected  by  any  interference  with 
McClellan. 

"I  suppose  that  the  liberal  translation  of  Tod's  lang- 
uage would  be  thus:  • 

"  'I  am  keeping  the  Democratic  soldiers  in  the  field, 
and  if  McClellan  is  interfered  with  I  shall  not  be  able  to 
do  it.'  We  all  felt  some  trouble  about  it.  McClellan 
had  been  relieved,  and  one  bright  moonlight  night  I  saw 
a  regiment,  I  suppose  Pennsylvanians  mostly,  marching 
from  the  Capitol  down  Pennsylvania  avenue,  yelling  at 
the  top  of  their  lungs,  'Hurrah  for  Little  Mac!'  and 
making  a  pause  before  tbe  White  House,  they  ke*pt  up 
that  bawling  and  hurrahing  for  McClellan. 

"I  went  to  see  Mr.  Lincoln  early  the  next  morning, 
and  asked  him  if  he  had  witnessed  the  performance  on 
the  previous  night.  He  said  he  had.  I  asked  him  what 
he  thought  of  it.  He  said  it  was  very  perplexing.  I  told 
him  I  had  come  to  make  a  suggestion.  I  told  him 
I  would  introduce  him  to  a  young  man  of  fine  talents 
and  liberal  education,  who  had  lost  an  arm  in  the  service 
and  I  wanted  him  to  tell  one  of  his  Cabinet  Ministers  to 
give  that  young  man  a  good  place  in  the  Civil  Service, 
and  to  avail  himself  of  the  occasion  to  declare   that  the 


WAR    STORIES.  189 

policy  of  the  Administration  was,  whenever  the  qualifi- 
cations were  equal,  to  give  those  who  had  been  wounded 
or  disabled  in  the  service  of  the  country  the  preference 
in  the  Civil  department. 

"He  said  it  was  an  idea  he  would  like  to  think  of  and 
asked  me  how  soon  I  would  wait  upon  him  in  the  morn- 
ing. I  said  any  hour;  and  I  went  at  7  o'clock  and  found 
him  in  the  hands  of  a  barber. 

Says  he:  "I  have  been  thinking  about  your  proposi- 
tion, and  I  have  a  question  to  ask  you;  Did  you  ever 
know  Colonel  Smith,  of  Rockford,    111?" 

"I  said  I  had  an  introduction  to  him  when  attending 
to  the  defense  of  of  Governor  Bebb.  " 

"You  know,"  said  he,  "that  he  was  killed  at  Vicks- 
burg;  that  his  head  was  carried  off  by  a  shell.  He  was 
postmaster  and  his  wife  wants  the  place,"  and  he  inquir- 
ed if  that  would  come  up  to  my  idea;  and  thereupon  he 
and  I  concocted  a  letter — I  have  the  correspondence  in 
my  possession — to  Postmaster  General  Blair,  directing 
him  to  appoint  the  widow  of  Colonel  Smith  Postmistress, 
in  the  room  of  her  deceased  husband,  who  had  fallen  in 
battle,  and  stating  that  in  consideration  of  what  was  due 
to  the  men  who  were  righting  our  battles,  he  had  made 
up  his  mind  that  the  families  of  those  who  had  fallen  and 
those  disabled  in  the  service,  their  qualifications  being 
equal,  should  always  have  a  preference  in  the  Civil 
Service. 

"I  told  him  I  was  not  personally  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Blair,  and  he  gave  me  a  note  of  introduction  to  him  with 
the  letter.  I  told  Blair  that  I  proposed  to  take  a  copy 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  letter,  which  he  had  then  made  out  by 


190  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

the  clerk.  I  took  the  letter  to  the  Chronicle  office  in 
Washington,  in  which  paper  it  was  published,  and  the 
next  morning  I  jumped  into  an  ambulance  and  went  to 
the  convalescing  camp,  where  there  were  about  7,000 
convalescents,  a  great  many  of  them  Ohio  men,  and 
when  I  made  my  appearance  they  called  on  me  for  a 
speech.  I  got  upon  a  terrace  and  made  them  a  few  re- 
marks, and  coming  round  to  the  old  saw,  'that  Repub- 
lics are  always  ungrateful,'  I  told  them  I  could  not  vouch 
for  the  Republic,  but  I  thought  I  could  vouch  for  the  chief 
man  at  the  head  of  the  Administration,  and  he  had  al- 
ready spoken  on  that  subject,  and  when  I  read  Lincoln's 
letter  the  boys  flung  their  hats  into  the  air  and  made  the 
welkin  ring  for  a  long  while . 

"I  hurried  back  to  the  city,  and  with  a  pair  of  shears 
cut  out  Lincoln's  letter,  and  then  attached  some  editor- 
ial remarks,  and  that  letter  went  around,  and  I  believe 
was  published  in  every  friendly  newspaper  in  the  United 
States. 

"About  that  time  Congress  passed  a  resolution  to  the 
same  effect,  that  those  disabled  in  the  military  service  of 
the  country,  wherever  qualified,  ought  to  have  a  prefer- 
ence over  others.  This  may  have  been  a  small  matter, 
but  it  made  a  marvelous  impression  on  the  army. 


:o:- 


A  Church  which   God   Wanted   for  the   Union 

Soldiers. 

Among  the  various  applicants  at  the  White  House  one 
day  was  a  well-dressed  lady,  who  came  forward,  without 
apparent  embarrassmeni  in  her  manner,    and    addressed 


WAR    STORIES. 


191 


the  President.      Giving  her  a  very  close  and  scrutinizing 

look,  he  said: 

"Well,  madam,  what  can  I  do  for  you?" 

She  proceeded  to  tell  him  that  she  lived  in  Alexandria; 

that  the  church  where  she  worshiped  had  been  taken  for 

a  hospital. 

"What  church,   madam?"  Mr.    Lincoln    asked,    in   a 

quick,  nervous  manner. 


"The church,"  she  replied;    "and    as    there    are 

only  two  or  three  wounded  soldiers  in  it.  I  came  to  see  if 
you  would  not  let  us  have  it,  as  we  want  it  very  much  to 
worship  God  in." 


192  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

"Madam,  have  you  been  to  see  the  post  surgeon  at 
Alexandria  about  this  matter?  " 

"Yes,  sir;  but  we  could  do  nothing  with  him." 
"Well,  we  put  him  there  to  attend  to  just  such  busi- 
ness, and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  knows  better 
what  should  be  done  under  the  circumstances  than  I  do. 
See  here;  you  say  you  live  in  Alexandria;  probably  you 
own  property  there.  How  much  will  you  give  to  assist 
in  building  a  hospital?" 

'  'You  know,  Mr.  Lincoln,  our  property  is  very  much 
embarrassed  by  the  war;  so,  really,  I  could  hardly  afford 
to  give  much  for  such  a  purpose. 

"Well,  madam,  I  expect  we  shall  have  another  fight 
soon,  and  my  candid  opinion  is,  God  wants  that  church  for 
poor  wounded  Union  soldiers,  as  much  as  he  does  for 
secesh  people  to  worship  in."  Turning  to  his  table,  he 
said  quite  abruptly:  "You  will  excuse  me;  I  can  do 
nothing  for  you.      Good-day,  madam." 


■:o: 


How  Lincoln   Relieved  Rosecrans. 

General  James  B.  Steedman,  familiarly  known  as  old 
"Old  Chickamauga,"  relates  the  following: 

Some  weeks  after  the  disastrous  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga, while  yet  Chattanooga  was  in  a  state  of  siege, 
General  Steedman  was  surprised  one  day  to  receive  a 
telegram  from  Abraham  Lincoln  to  come  to  Washington. 
Seeking  out  Thomas,  he  laid  the  telegram  before  him, 
and  was  instructed  to  set  out  at  once.  Repairing  to  the 
White  House,  he  was  warmly  received    by  Mr.  Lincoln. 


WAR    STORIES.  1 93 

Mr.  Lincoln's  first  question  was  abrupt  and  to  the 
point: 

"General  Steedman,  what  is  your  opinion  of  General 
Rosecrans?  " 

General  Steedman,  hesitating  a  moment,  said;  "Mr. 
President,  I  would  rather  not  express  my  opinion  of  my 
superior  officer." 

Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "It  is  the  man  who  does  not  want 
to  express  an  opinion  whose  opinion  I  want.  I  am  be- 
sieged on  all  sides  with  advice.  Every  day  I  get  letters 
from  army  officers  asking  me  to  allow  them  to  come  to 
Washington  to  impart  some  valuable  knowledge  in  their 
possession. " 

"Well,  Mr.  President,"  said  Mr.  Steedman,  "you  are 
the  Commander-inChief  of  the  Army,  and  if  you  order  me 
to  speak  I  will  do  so." 

Mr.  Lincoln  said:   "Then  I  will  order  an  opinion." 

General  Steedman  then  answered: 

"Since  you  command  me,  Mr.  President,  I  will  say 
General  Rosecrans  is  a  splendid  man  to  command  a  vic- 
torious army." 

'  'But  what  kind  of  a  man  is  he  to  command  a  defeated 
army? "  said  Mr.  Lincoln. 

General  Steedman  in  reply  said,  cautiously:  "I  think 
there  are  two  or  three  men  in  that  army  that  would  be 
better." 

Then,  with  quaint  humor,  Mr.  Lincoln  propounded 
this  question: 

"Who,  besides  yourself,  General  Steedman,  is  there 
in  that  army  who  would  make  a  better  commander?" 

General  Steedman  promptly  said; 

"General  George  H.  Thomas." 


194  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

'•I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln, 
'  'that  is  my  own  opinion  exactly.  But  Mr.  Stanton  is 
against  him,  and  it  was  only  yesterday  that  a  powerful 
New  York  delegation  was  here  to  protest  against  his  ap- 
pointment because  he  is  from  a  rebel  state  and  can  not  be 
trusted." 

Said  General  Steedman: 

'  -A  man  who  will  leave  his  own  state  (Thomas  was  a 
Virginian),  his  friends,  all  his  associations,  to  follow  the 
flag  of  his  country,  can  be  trusted  in  any  position  to 
which  he  may  be  called." 

That  night  the  order  went  forth  from  Washington  re- 
lieving General  Rosecrans  of  the  command  of  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland  and  appointing  General  Thomas  in 
his  place. 


:o:- 


An  Interesting  Incident  Connected  with  Sign- 
ing the  Emancipation  Proclamation. 

The  roll  containing  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
was  taken  to  Mr.  Lincoln  at  noon  on  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary, 1863,  by  Secretary  Seward  and  his  son  Frederick. 
As  it  lay  unrolled  before  him,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  a  pen, 
dipped  it  in  the  ink,  moved  his  hand  to  the  place  for  the 
signature,  held  it  a  moment,  and  then  removed  his  hand 
and  dropped  the  pen.  After  a  little  hesitation  he  again 
took  up  the  pen  and  went  through  the  same  movement 
as  before.  Mr.  Lincoln  then  turned  to  Mr.  Seward, 
and  said: 

•T  have  been  shaking  hands  since  nine  o'clock  this 
morning  and  my  right    arm  is  almost    paralyzed.      If  my 


WAR    STORIES. 


195 


name  ever  goes  into  history  it  will  be  for  this  act,  and 
my  whole  soul  is  in  it .  If  my  hand  trembles  when  I  sign 
the  Proclamation,  all  who  examine  the  document  here- 
after will  say,    'He  hesitated.'" 

He  then  turned  to  the  table,  took    up  the    pen   again, 


THE    DAWN. 

and  slowly,  firmly  wrote  "Abraham  Lincoln,"  with  which 
the  whole  world  is  now  familiar.  He  then  looked  up, 
smiled,  and  said.    "That  will  do!" 


-:o: 


A   Dream  that  was  Portentous — What  Lincoln 
said  to  General  Grant  about  it. 

At  the  Cabinet  meeting  held  the  morning  of  the  day  of 
the  assassination,  it  was  afterward  remembered,  a  re- 
markable circumstance  occurred.  General  Grant  was 
present,  and  during  a  lull  in  the  discussion  the  President 
turned  to  him  and  asked  if  he  had  heard  from    General 


■^5598 

GEN.  U.  S.  GRANT, 

AFTER    HIS    RETURN    FROM    TOUR    OF  THE    WORLD. 

[196] 


WAR    STORIES.  1 97 

Sherman.      General  Grant  replied  that  he  had  not,  but 
was  in  hourly  expectation  of    receiving    despatches    from 

him  announcing  the  surrender  of  Johnson. 

"Well,"  said  the  President,  "you  will  hear  very  soon 
now,  and  the  news  will  be  important." 

"Why  do  you  think  so?  "  said  the  General. 

"Because,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "I  had  a  dream  last 
night;  and  ever  since  the  war  began,  I  have  invariably 
had  the  same  dream  before  any  important  military  event 
occurred." 

He  then  instanced  Bull  Run,  Antietam,  Gettysburg, 
etc. ,  and  said  that  before  each  of  those  events  he  had  had 
the  same  dream;  and  turning  to  Secretary  Wells,  said: 
"It  is  in  your  line,  too,  Mr.  Wells.  The  dream  is  that  I 
saw  a  ship  sailing  very  rapidly;  and  I  am  sure  that  it 
portends  some  important  national  event." 

Later  in  the  day,  dismissing  all  business,  the  carriage 
was  ordered  for  a  drive.  When  asked  by  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln if  he  would  like  any  one  to  accompany  them, 
he  replied: 

"No;   I  prefer  to  ride  by  ourselves  to-day." 
Mrs.  Lincoln  subsequently  said  that  she  never  saw  him 
seem  so  supremely  happy  as  on  this   occasion.      In  reply 
to  a  remark  to  this  effect,  the  President  said: 

"And  well  I  may  feel  so,  Mary,  for  I  consider  this  day 
the  war  has  come  to  a  close,"  And  then  added:  "We 
must  both  be  more  cheerful  in  the  future;  between  the 
war  and  the  loss  of  our  darling  Willie,  we  have  been  very 
miserable. " 


:o:- 


198 


LINCOLN  S  STORIES  AND  SPEECHES. 


The  Serpent  in  Bed  with  Two  Children. 

A  number  of  Kentuckians  insisted  that  troops  should 
not  be  sent  through  that  state  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
down  the  war  in  Tennessee.  The  President  was 
hesitating  what  to  do,  and  they  were  pressing  imme- 
diate action. 

"I  am,"  he  said,  "a  good  deal  like  the  farmer  who,  re- 


turning to  his  home  one  winter  night,  found  his  two  sweet 
little  boys  asleep  with  a  hideous  serpent  crawling  over 
their  bodies.  He  could  not  strike  the  serpent  without 
wounding  or  killing  the  children,  so  he  calmly  waited 
until  it  had  moved  away.  Now,  I  do  not  want  to  act  in 
a  hurry  about  the  matter;  I  don't  want  to  hurt  anybody 
in  Kentucky;  but  I  will  get  the  serpent  out  of  Tenn- 
essee. 

•'And  he  did  march  through    Kentucky,  to  the  aid  of 
Andrew  Johnson's  mountaineer's." 


WAR    STORIES.  199 

Lincoln's  Cutting  Reply  to  the  Confederate  Com- 
mission. 

At  a  so-called  "peace  conference"  procured  by  the  vol- 
untary and  irresponsible  agency  of  Mr.  Francis  P.  Blair, 
which  was  held  on  the  steamer  River  Queen,  in  Hamp- 
ton Roads,  on  the  3d  of  February,  1865,  between  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  and  Mr.  Seward,  representing  the  govern- 
ment, and  Messrs.  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  J.  A.  Camp- 
bell and  Mr.  Hunter,  representing  the  rebel  confederacy, 
Mr  Hunter  replied  that  the  recognition  of  Jeff.  Davis' 
power  was  the  first  and  indispensable  step  to  peace; 
and,  to  illustrate  his  point,  he  referred  to  the  cor- 
respondence between  King  Charles  the  First  and  his  Par- 
liament, as  a  reliable  precedent  of  a  constitutional  ruler 
treating  with  rebels.  Mr.  Lincoln's  face  wore  that  inde- 
scribable expression  which  generally  preceded  his  hardest 
hits;  and  he  remarked: 

"Upon  questions  of  history  I  must  refer  you  to  Mr. 
Seward,  for  he  is  posted  in  such  things,  and  I  don't  pro- 
fess to  be:  but  my  only  distinct  recollection  of  the  matter 
is  that  Charles  lost  his  head  !" 

Mr.  Hunter  remarked,  on  the  same  occasion,  that  the 
slaves,  always  accustomed  to  work  upon  compulsion,  un- 
der an  overseer,  would,  if  suddenly  freed,  precipitate  not 
only  themselves,  but  the  entire  society  of  the  South,  into 
irremediable  ruin.  No  work  would  be  done,  but  blacks 
and  whites  would  starve  together.  The  President  waited 
for  Mr.  Seward  to  answer  the  argument,  but,  as  that 
gentleman  hesitated,  he  said: 

"Mr.  Hunter,  you  ought  to  know  a  great  deal  better 
about  this  matter  than  I,  for  you  have  always    lived  un- 


200  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

der  the  slave  system.  I  can  only  say,  in  reply  to  your 
statement  of  the  case,  that  it  reminds  me  of  a  man  out  in 
Illinois,  by  the  name  of  Case,  who  undertook,  a  few 
years  ago  to  raise  a  very  large  herd  of  hogs.  It  was  a 
great  trouble  to  feed  them;  and  how  to  get  around  this 
was  a  puzzle  to  him.  At  length  he  hit  upon  the  plan  of 
planting  an  immense  field  of  potatoes,  and,  when  they 
were  sufficiently  grown,  he  turned  the  whole  herd  into 
the  field  and  let  them  have  full  swing,  thus  saving  not 
only  the  labor  of  feeding  the  hogs,  but  that  also  of 
digging  the  potatoes  !  Charmed  with  his  sagacity,  he 
stood  one  day  leaning  against  the  fence,  counting  his 
hogs,  when  a  neighbor  came  along: 

"'Well,  well,' said  he,  'Mr.  Case  this  is  very  fine. 
Your  hogs  are  doing  very  well  just  now;  but  you  know 
out  here  in  Illinois  the  frost  comes  early,  and  the  ground 
freezes  a  foot  deep.     Then  what  are  they  going  to  do  ?' 

"This  was  a  view  of  the  matter  which  Mr.  Case  had 

not  taken    into  account.      Butchering   time  for  hogs  was 

away  on  in  December  or  January.    He  scratched  his  head 

and  at  length    stammered:      'Well,  it  may  come  pretty 

hard  on  their  snouts,   but  I   don't  see    but  it  will  be  root 

hog  or  die  !'  " 

:o: 

Lincoln  and  Judge  Baldwin. 

•'Judge  Baldwin,  of  California,  being  in  Washington, 
called  one  day  on  General  Halleck,  and  presuming  upon 
a  familiar  acquaintance  in  California  a  few  years  before, 
solicited  a  pass  outside  of  our  lines  to  see  a  brother  in 
Virginia,  not  thinking  that  he  would  meet  with  a 
refusal,  as  both  his  brother  and  himself  were  good 
Union  men. 


WAR   STORIES.  20 1 

"We  have  been  deceived  too  often,"  said  General  Hal- 
leck,    'and  I  regret  I  can't  grant  it." 

Judge  Baldwin  then  went  to  Stanton,  and  was  very 
briefly  disposed  of,  with  the  same  result.  Finally, 
he  obtained  an  interview  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  stated 
his  case. 

"Have  you  applied  to  General  Halleck?"  inquired  the 
President. 

"Yes,  and  met  with  a  flat  refusal,"  said  Judge  B. 

"  'Then  you  must  see  Stanton,'  continued  the  Presi- 
dent. 

"  'I    have,  and   with  the    same  result,'  was  the  reply. 

"  'Well,  then,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  a  smile,  'I  can 
do  nothing;  for  you  must  know  that  I  have  very  little  in- 
fluence with  this  Administration.'  " 


:o:- 


The  Merciful  President. 

A  personal  friend  of  President  Lincoln  says:     "I  called 
on   him  one    day  in  the   early  part  of  the  war.      He  had 
just  written  a  pardon  for  a  young  man  who  had  been  sen- 
tenced to  be  shot,  for   sleeping  at  his  post,  as  a  sentinel. 
He  remarked  as  he  read  it  to  me: 

" 'I  could  not  think  of  going  into  eternity  with  the 
blood  of  the  poor  young  man  on  my  skirts.'  Then  he 
added:  'It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  boy,  raised 
on  a  farm,  probably  in  the  habit  of  going  to  bed  at  dark, 
should,  when  required  to  watch,  fall  asleep;  and  I  cannot 
consent  to  shoot  him  for  such  an  act.'  " 

This  story,  with  its  moral,  is  made  complete  by  Rev, 
Newman  Hall,  of  London,  who,  in  a  sermon  preached 
after  and  upon   Mr.  Lincoln's  death,  says  that   the  dead 


202  LINCOLN  S   STORIES   AND    SPFECHES. 

body  of  this  youth  was  found  among  the  slain  on  the  field 
of  Fredericksburg,  wearing  next  his  heart  a  photograph 
of  his  preserver,  beneath  which  the  grateful  fellow  had 
written,  "God  bless  President  Lincoln!" 

From  the  same  sermon  another  anecdote  is  gleaned,  of 
a  similar  character,  which  is  evidently  authentic.  An 
officer  of  the  army,  in  conversation  with  the  preacher, 
said: 

"The  first  week  of  my  command,  there  were  twenty- 
four  deserters  sentenced  by  court  martial  to  be  shot,  and 
the  warrants  for  their  execution  were  sent  to  the  Presi- 
dent to  be  signed.  He  refused.  I  went  to  Washington 
and  had  an  interview.      I  said: 

"  'Mr.  President, unless  these  men  are  made  an  exam- 
ple of,  the  army  itself  is  in  danger.  Mercy  to  the  few  is 
cruelty  to  the  many.' 

"He  replied:  'Mr.  General,  there  are  already  too 
many  weeping  widows  in  the  United  States.  For  God's 
sake,  don't  ask  me  to  add  to  the  number,  for  I  won't  do 
it.'" 

:o: 


No  Mercy  for  the  Man  Stealer. 

Hon.  John  B.  Alley,  of  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  was 
made  the  bearer  to  the  President  of  a  petition  for  pardon, 
by  a  person  confined  in  the  Newburyport  jail  for  being 
engaged  in  the  slave-trade.  He  had  been  sentenced  to 
five  years'  imprisonment,  and  the  payment  of  a  fine  of 
one  thousand  dollars.  The  petition  was  accompanied  by 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Alley,  in  which  the  prisoner  acknowledged 
his  guilt  and  the  justice  of  his  sentence.  He  was  very 
penitent — at  least   on  paper — and  had  received  the  full 


WAR   STORIES.  203 

measure  of  his  punishment,  so  far  as  it  related  to  the 
term  of  his  imprisonment;  but  he  was  still  held  because  he 
could  not  pay  his  fine.  Mr.  Alley  read  the  letter  to  the 
President,  who  was  much  moved  by  its  pathetic  appeals; 
and  when  he  had  himself  read  the  petition,  he  looked  up 
and  said:  "My  friend,  that  is  a  very  touching  appeal  to 
our  feelings.  You  know  my  weakness  is  to  be,  if  possi- 
ble, too  easily  moved  by  appeals  for  mercy,  and,  if  this 
man  were  guilty  of  the  foulest  murder  that  the  arm  of 
man  could  perpetrate,  I  might  forgive  him  on  such  an  ap- 
peal; but  the  man  who  could  go  to  Africa,  and  rob  her  of 
her  children,  and  sell  them  into  interminable  bondage, 
with  no  other  motive  than  that  which  is  furnished  by 
dollars  and  cents,  is  so  much  worse  than  the  most  depraved 
murderer,  that  he  can  never  receive  pardon  at  my  hands. 
No  !     He  may  rot  in  jail  before  he  shall  have  liberty  by 

any  act  of  mine. "  A  sudden  crime,  committed  under 
strong  temptation,  was  venial  in  his  eyes,  on  evidence  of 
repentance;  but  the  calculating,  mercenary  crime  of  man- 
stealing  and  man-selling,  with  all  the  cruelties  that  are 
essential  accompaniments  to  the  business,  could  win  from 
him,  as  an  officer  of  the  people,  no  pardon. 


•:o:- 


How  a  Negro  Argued  the  Point. 

The  following  story  is  attributed  to  Mr.  Lincoln  upon 
the  hurricane  deck  of  one  of  our  gun-boats: 

An  elderly  darkey  with  a  very  philosophical  and  re- 
trospective cast  of  countenance,  squatted  upon  his 
bundle,  toasting  his  shins  against  the  chimney,  and  ap- 
parently plunged  in  a  state  of  profound  meditation. 
Finding,  upon  inquiry,  that  he  belonged  to  the  Ninth  II- 


204  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

linois,  one  of  the  most  gallantly  behaved  and  heavy  los- 
ing regiments  at  the  Fort  Donaldson  battle,  and  a  part 
of  which  was  aboard,  I  began  to  interrogate  him  upon 
the  subject: 

"Were  you  in  the  fight?" 

"Had  a  little  taste  of  it,  sa." 

"Stood  your  ground,  did  you?" 

"No  sa;  I  runs." 

"Run  at  the  first  fire,  did  you?" 

"Yes  sa,  and  would  hab  run  soona  had  I  knowd  it  war 
coming." 

"Why,  that  wasn't  very  creditable   to  your  courage.' 

"Dat  isn't  my  line,  sa;  cooking's  my  perfeshun." 

"Well,  but  have  you  no  regard  for  your  reputa- 
tion?" 

"Reputation's  nuffin  to  me  by  de  side  of  life." 

"Do  you  consider  your  life  worth  more  than  other 
people's?" 

"It  is  worth  more  to  me,  sa." 

"Then  you  must  value  it  very  highly?" 

"Yes,  sa,  I  does;  more  dan  all  dis  wuld,  more  dan  a 
million  ob  dollars,  sa;  for  what  wud  dat  be  wuf  to  a  man 
wid  de  bref  out  of  him?  Self-preserbation  am  de  fust 
law  wid  me." 

"But  why  should  you  act  upon  a  different  rule  from 
other  men?" 

"Because  different  men  set  different  values  upon  their 
lives;  mine  is  not  in  de  market." 

"But  if  you  lost  it,  you  would  have  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  you  died  for  your  country." 

'  'What  satisfaction  would  dat  be  to  me  when  de  power 
ob  feelin'  was  gone?" 


WAR   STORIES.  205 

"Then  patriotism  and  honor  are  nothing  to  you?" 

"Nuffin  whatever,  sa;  I  regard  them  as  among  the  van- 
ities." 

"If  our  soldiers  were  like  you,  traitors  might  have 
broken  up  the  Government  without  resistance." 

"Yes.  sa;  dar  would  hab  been  no  help  for  it.  I 
wouldn't  put  my  life  in  de  scale  'ginst  any  gobernment  dat 
eber  existed,  for  no  gobernment  could  replace  de  loss  to 


me. 


1  'Do  you  think  any  of  your  company  would  have  miss- 
ed you  if  you  had  been  killed?" 

"Maybe  not,  sa;  a  dead  man  ain't  much  to  dese 
sogers,  let  alone  a  dead  nigga;  but  I'd  a  missed  myself 
and  dat  was  de  pint  wid  me." 


•:o: 


How  Lincoln  Associated  His  Second  Nomination 
with  a  Very  Singular  Circumstance. 

It  appeared  that  the  dispatch  announcing  Lincoln's  re- 
nomination  for  President  had  been  sent  to  his  office  from 
the  War  Department  while  he  was  at  lunch.  Afterward, 
without  going  back  to  the  official  chamber,  he  proceeded 
to  the  War  Department.  While  there,  the  telegram 
came  in  announcing  the  nomination  of  Johnson. 

"What !"  said  he  to  the  operator,  "do  they  nominate 
a  Vice  Pdesident  before  they  do  a  President  ?" 

"Why !"  rejoined  the  astonished  official,  "have  you 
not  heard  of  your  own  nomination  ?  It  was  sent  to  the 
White  House  two  hours  ago." 

"It  is  all  right,"  was  the  reply;  "I  shall  probably  find 
it  on  my  return." 

Laughing   pleasantly  over  this  incident,  he  said,  soon 


2o6  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

afterwards  :  «  'A  very  singular  occurrence  took  place  the 
day  I  was  nominated  at  Chicago,  four  years  ago,  of  which 
I  am  reminded  to-night.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  day, 
returning  home  from  down  town,  I  went  up-stairs  to  Mrs. 
Lincoln's  reading-room.  Feeling  somewhat  tired,  I. lay 
down  upon  a  couch  in  the  room,  directly  opposite  a 
bureau,  upon  which  was  a  looking-glass.  As  I  reclined, 
my  eye  fell  upon  the  glass,  and  I  saw  distinctly  two  im- 
ages of  myself,  exactly  alike,  except  that  one  was  a  little 
paler  than  the  other.  I  arose,  and  lay  down  again,  with 
the  same  result .  It  made  me  quite  uncomfortable  for  a 
few  moments,  but  some  friends  coming  in,  the  matter 
passed  out  of  my  mind. 

"The  next  day,  while  walking  in  the  street,  I  was  sud- 
denly reminded  of  the  circumstance,  and  the  disagreea- 
ble sensation  produced  by  it  returned.  I  had  never  seen 
anything  of  the  kind  before,  and  did  not  know  what  to 
make  of  it. 

'  'I  determined  to  go  home  and  place  myself  in  the  same 
position,  and  if  the  same  effect  was  produced,  I  would 
make  up  my  mind  that  it  was  the  natural  result  of  some 
principle  of  refraction  of  optics  which  I  did  not  under- 
stand, and  dismiss  it.  I  tried  the  experiment,  with  a 
like  result;  and,  as  I  had  said  to  myself,  accounting  for  it 
on  some  principle  unkown  to  me,  it  ceased  to  trouble  me. 
But,"  said  he,  "some  time  ago,  I  tried  to  produce  the 
same  effect  here,  by  arranging  a  glass  and  couch  in  the 
same  position,  without  success. " 

He  did  not  say,  at  this  time,  that  either  he  or  Mrs. 
Lincoln  attached  any  omen  to  the  phenomenon,  but  it 
is  known  that  Mrs.  Lincoln  regarded  it  as  a  sign  that  the 
President  would  be  re-elected. 


WAR   STORIES.  2C>7 

A  Touching  Incident  in  the  Life  of  Lincoln. 

A  few  days  before  the  President's  death,  Secretary 
Stanton  tendered  his  resignation  of  the  War  Department. 
He  accompanied  the  act  with  a  heartfelt  tribute  to  Mr. 
Lincoln's  constant  friendship  and  faithful  devotion  to  the 
country;  saying,  also,  that  he  as  Secrstary  had  accepted 
the  position  to  hold  it  only  until  the  war  should  end,  and 
that  now  he  felt  his  work  was  done,  and  his  duty  was  to 
resign. 


BIRTHPLACE  OF  GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  greatly  moved  by  the  Secretary's 
words,  and  tearing  in  pieces  the  paper  containing  the 
resignation,  and  throwing  his  arms  adout  the  Secretary, 
he  said: 

"Stanton,  you  have  been  a  good  friend  and  a  faithful 
public  servant,  and  it  is  not  for  you  to  say  when  you  will 
no  longer  be  needed  here."  Several  frieuds  of  both 
parties  were  present  on  the  occasion,  and  there  was  not  a 
dry  eye  that  wituessed  the  scene. 


208  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

How  Lincoln  Illustrated  What    Might  Be  Done 

With  Jeff.  Davis. 

One  of  the  latest  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  stories  was  told  to 
a  party  of  gentlemen,  who,  among  the  tumbling  ruins 
of  the  Confederacy,  anxiously  asked  "what  he  would  do 
with  Jeff.  Davis  ?" 

"There  was  a  boy  in  Springfield,"  replied  Mr.  Lincoln, 
who  saved  up  his  money  and  bought  a  'coon,'  which, 
after  the  novelty  wore  off,  became  a  great  nuisance. 

"He  was  one  day  leading  him  through  the  streets,  and 
had  his  hands  full  to  keep  clear  of  the  little  vixen,  who 
had  torn  his  clothes  half  off  of  him.  At  length  he  sat 
down  on  the  curb-stone,  completely  fagged  out.  A  man 
passing  was  stopped  by  the  lad's  disconsolate  appear- 
ance, and  asked  the  matter. 

"  'Qh,'  was  the  only  reply,  'this  coon  is  such  a  trouble 
to  me.' 

'  'Why  don't  you  get  rid  of  him  then  ?"  said  the  gentle- 
man. 

"  'Hush  !'  said  the  boy:  'don't  you  see  he  is  gnawing 
his  rope  off  ?  I  am  going  to  let  him  do  it,  and  then  I 
will  go  home  and  tell  the  folks  that  he  got  away  from 
me!'" 

:o: 

The  Great  Thing  About  Gen.  Grant  as  Lincoln 

Saw  It. 

Mr.  Carpenter,  the  artist,  made  particular  inquiry  of 
the  President,  during  the  progress  of  the  Battles  of  the 
Wilderness,  how  General  Grant  personally  impressed  him 
as  compared  to  other  officers  of  the  army,  and  especially 
those  who  had  been  in  command. 


WAR   STORIES.  209 

"The  great  thing  about  Grant,"  said  he,  "I  take  it,  is 
his  perfect  coolness  and  persistency  of  purpose.  I  judge 
he  is  not  easily  excited,  which  is  a  great  element  in  an 
officer,  and  has  the  grit  of  a  bull-dog  !  Once  let  him  get 
his  'teeth'  in,  and  nothing  can  shake  him  off." 


■:o: 


A  Joke  on  Mr.  Chase. 

One  day,  while  the  Americau  war  was  going  on,  and 
Secretary  Chase  was  issuing  the  paper  money,  known  as 
/greenbacks,"  in  large  quantities,  he  found  upon  a  desk 
in  his  office  a  drawing  of  an  ingenious  invention  for  turn- 
ing gold  eagles  into  "greenbacks,"  with  a  portrait  of  him- 
self feeding  it  with  "yellor  boys,"  at  one  end,  while  the 
government  currency  came  out  at  the  other  end,  flying 
about  like  leaves  of  autumn.  While  he  was  examining 
the  drawing,  President  Lincoln  came  in,  and  recognizing 
the  likeness  of  the  secretary,  exclaimed: 

"Capital  joke,  isn't  it,  Mr.  Chase?" 

"A  joke,"  said  the  irate  financier,  "I'd  give  a  thousand 
dollars  to  know  who  left  that  here." 

"Would  you,  indeed,"  said  the  President,  "and  which 
end  would  you  pay  from?" 

The  answer  is  not  "recorded." 


:o:- 


A  Curious  Story  of  Lincoln  and  the  Spirits. 

It  is  stated  on  the  authority  of  the  Boston  Evening 
Gazette,  that  Abraham  Lincoln  once  gave  a  spiritual 
soiree  at  the  Presidential  residence  to  test  the  wonderful 
alleged  supernatural  powers  of  one  Mr.  Charles  E: 
Shockle.     The  party  consisted   of   the    President,    Mrs. 


210  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

Lincoln,      Mr.     Wells,     Mr.     Stanton   and     two   other 
gentlemen. 

For  some  half-hour  the  demonstrations  were  ol  a  phys- 
ical character — tables  were  moved,  and  a  picture  of 
Henry  Clay,  which  hangs  on  the  wall,  was  swayed  more 
than  a  foot,  and  two  candelabra,  presented  by  the  Dey 
of  Algiers  to  President  Adams,  was  twice  raised  nearly  to 
the  ceiling.  At  length  loud  rappings  was  heard  directly 
beneath  the  President's  feet,  and  Mr.  Shockle  stated  that 
an  Indian  desired  to  communicate . 

"I  shall  be  happy  to  hear  what  his  Indian  majesty  has 
to  say,"  replied  the  President,  "for  I  have  very  re- 
cently received  a  deputation  of  our  red  brethren,  and  it 
was  the  only  delegation,  black,  white  or  blue,  which  did 
not  volunteer  some  advice  about  the  conduct  of  the 
war. " 

The  medium  then  called  for  a  pencil  and  paper,  which 
were  laid  upon  the  table,  and  afterwards  covered  with  a 
handkerchief.  Presently  knocks  were  heard  and  the  pa- 
per was  uncovered,  To  the  surprise  of  all  present,  it 
read  as  follows: 

'.Haste  makes  waste,  but  delays  cause  vexations. 
Give  vitality  by  energy.  Use  every  means  to  subdue. 
Proclamations  are  useless,  Make  a  bold  front  and  fight 
the  enemy;  leave  traitors  at  home  to  the  care  of  loyal 
men.  Less  note  of  preparation,  less  parade  and  policy- 
talk,  and  more  action. — Henry  Knox." 

"That  is  not  Indian  talk,  Mr.  Shockle,"  said  the  Pres- 
ident.     "Who  is  Henry  Knox? 

The  medium,  speaking  in  a  strange  voice,  replied, 
"The  first  Secretary  of  War." 


WAR    STORIES.  21  I 

"Oh,  yes;  General  Knox,"  said  the  President.  "Stan- 
ton, that  message  is  for  you;  it  is  from  your  predecessor. 
I  should  like  to  ask  General  Knox  to  tell  us  when  this  re- 
bellion will  be  put  down." 

The  answer  was  oracularly  indefinite.  The  spirit  said 
that  Napoleon  thought  one  thing,  Lafayette  another,  and 
that  Franklin  differed  from  both. 

'Ah,"  exclaimed  the  President,  "opinions  differ  among 
the  saints  as  well  as  among  the  sinners.  Their  talk  is 
very  much  like  the  talk  of  my  cabinet .  I  wish  the  spir- 
its would  tell  us  how  to  catch  the  Alabama?" 

The  lights  almost  instantaneously  became  so  dim  that 
it  was  impossible  to  distinguish  the  features  of  any  one  in 
the  room,  and  on  the  large  mirror  over  the  mantlepiece, 
there  appeared  a  sea-view,  the  Alabama,  with  all  steam 
up,  flying  from  the  pursuit  of  another  large  steamer.  Two 
merchantmen  in  the  distance  were  seen  partially  destroy- 
ed by  fire. 

The  picture  changed,  and  the  Alabama  was  seen  at 
anchor  under  the  shadow  of  an  English  fort,  from  which 
an  English  flag  was  flying.  The  Alabama  was  floating 
idly,  not  a  soul  on  board,  and  no  signs  of  life  visible 
about  her.  The  picture  vanished,  and,  in  letters  of  pur- 
ple, appeared:  "The  American  people  demand  this  of 
the  English  aristocracy." 

"So  England  is  to  seize  the  Alabama,  finally?"  said 
the  President.  "It  may  be  possible,  but  Mr.  Wells, 
do  not  let  one  gunboat  or  one  monitor  less  be  con- 
structed." 

"Well,   Mr.    Shockle,"    continued    he,     "I  have    seen 


212       LINCOLN S  STORIES  AND  SPEECHES. 

strange  things,  and  heard  rather  odd  remarks,  but  noth- 
ing that  convinces  me,  except  the  pictures,  that  there  is 
anything  very  heavenly  about  all  this.  I  should  like, 
if  possible,  to  hear  what  Judge  Douglas  says  about  this 
war. " 

After  an  interval  of  about  three  minutes,  Mr.  Shockle 
rose  quickly  from  his  chair  and  stood  behind  it.  Resting 
his  left  hand  on  the  back,  his  right  into  his  bosom,  he 
spoke  in  a  voice  such  as  no  one  could  mistake  who  had 
ever  heard  Mr.  Douglas.  He  urged  the  President  to 
throw  aside  all  advisers  who  hesitated  about  the  policy 
to  be  pursued,  and  said  that  if  victory  were  followed  up 
by  energetic  action,  all  would  be  well. 

"I  believe  that,"  said  the  President,  "whether  it  comes 
from  spirit  or  human.  It  needs  not  a  ghost  from  'the 
bourne  from  which  no  traveler  returns'  to  tell  that." 


■:o:- 


The  President's  Aversion  to  Bloodshed. 

A  striking  incident  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  official  life  is  re- 
lated by  Judge  Bromwell,  of  Denver,  who  visited  the 
White  House  in  March,  1865.  Mr.  Seward  and  several 
other  gentlemen  were  also  present,  and  the  President 
gradually  came  to  talk  on  decisions  of  life  and  death. 

All  other  matters  submitted  to  him,  he  declared,  were 
nothing  in  comparison  to  these,  and  he  added: 

'  'I  reckon  there  never  was  a  man  raised  in  the  country 
on  a  farm,  where  they  are  always  butchering  cattle  and 
hogs  and  think  nothing  of  it,  that  ever  grew  up  with  such 
an  aversion  to  bloodshed  as  I  have;  and  yet  I've  had  more 


WAR    SI  OKIES. 


213 


questions  of  life  and  death  to  settle  in  four  years  than 
all  the  men  who  ever  sat  in  this  chair  put  to- 
gether. 

"But  I've  managed  to  get  along  and  do  my  duty,    as  I 


[.The  Massacre.] 

believe,  and  still  save  most  of  them,    and  there's  no  man 
knows  the  distress  of  my   mind.      But    there    have    been 


214  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

some  of  them  I  couldn't  save — there  are  some'cases  where 
the  law  must  be  executed. 

'  'There  was  that  man ,  who  was  sentenced  for 

piracy  and  slave-trading  on  the  high  seas.  That  was  a 
case  where  there  must  be  an  example,  and  you  don't 
know  how  they  followed  and  pressed  to  get  him  pardon- 
ed, or  his  sentence  commuted;  but  there  was  no  use  of 
talking.  It  had  to  be  done;  I  could  not  help  the  poor 
man. 

'  'And  then  there   was  that ,  who    was    caught 

spying  and  recruiting  within  Pope's  lines  in  Missouri. 
That  was  another  case.  They  besieged  me  day  and 
night  but  I  couldn't  give  way. 

"We  had  come  to  a  point  where  something  must  be 
done  that  would  put  a  stop  to  such  work. 

"And  then  there  was  the  case  of  Beal  on  the  lakes. 
That  was  a  case  where  there  had  to  be  an  example.  They 
tried  me  every  way.  They  wouldn't  give  up;  but  I  had 
to  stand  firm  on  that,  and  I  even  had  turned  away  his 
poor  sister  when  she  came  and  begged  for  his  life,  and  let 
him  be  executed,  and  he  was  executed,  and  I  can't  get 
the  distress  out  of  my  mind." 

As  the  kindly  man  uttered  these   words  the  tears  ran 

down  his  cheeks,  and  the    eyes  of  the   men  surrounding 

him  moistened  in  sympathy.  There  was  a  profound  si- 
lence in  which  they  rose  to  depart.     Three  weeks  after, 

the  President  was  killed. 


WAR    STORIES. 

How   Lincoln  Told   a   Secret. 


215 


When  the  Sherman  expedition  which  captured  Port 
Royal  went  out,  there  was  great  curiosity  to  know  where 
it  had  gone.  A  person  visiting  President  Lincoln  at  his 
official  residence  importuned  him  to  disclose  the  destina- 
tion. 


"Will  you  keep  it  entirely  secret'"  asked  the  Presi- 
dent. 

"Oh  yes,  upon  my  honor." 

"Well,"  said  the  President,  "I  will  tell  you."  As- 
suming an  air  of  great  .mystery,  and  drawing  the  man 
close  to  him,  he  kept  him  a  moment  awaiting  the  revela- 


216  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

tion  with  an  open  mouth  and  in  great  anxiety,  and  then 
said  in  a  loud  whisper,  which  was  heard  all  over  the 
room,    "The  expedition  has  gone  to — sea," 


•:o:- 


Two  Hundred  and  Fifty  Thousand  Passes  to 

Richmond. 

A  gentleman  called  upon  President  Lincoln  before  the 
fall  of  Richmond  and  solicited  a  pass  for  that  place.  <(I 
should  be  very  happy  to  oblige  you,"  said  the  President, 
"if  my  passes  were  respected;  but  the  fact  is,  I  have, 
within  the  past  two  years  given  passes  to  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  men  to  go  to  Richmond  and  not  one 
has  got  there  yet. 


Hon.  Leonard  Swett's  Reminiscences. 

"I  saw  him,"  says  the  late  Mr.  Sweet,  who  was  a  most 
intimate  friend  of  Lincoln,  "early  one  morning,  when  the 
President,  alluding  to  the  proposed  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation, invited  me  to  sit  down,  as  he  wished  to  confer 
with  me  on  the  subject.  The  conference  lasted  until  the 
time  came  for  the  Cabinet  Council,  and  during  the  whole 
time  Lincoln  did  all  the  talking,  He  did  not  really  want 
my  advice,  he  wanted  simply  to  go  over  the  ground  with 
me. 

'  'During  the  conference  the  President  read  a  very  able 
letter  from  Robert  Dale  Owen,  urging  reasons  why  the 
war  could  never  be  gone  through  successfully  without  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation.     As  Lincoln  read  it  he  re- 


WAR   STORIES.  2\J 

marked,  'this  is  a  very  able  paper, '  at  the  same  time 
stating  that  he  had  prepared  a  paper  on  the  same  sub- 
ject but  that  Mr.  Owen's  paper  was  much  the  abler  of 
the  two. 

The  President  then  offered  to  read  letters  of  another 
kind, — letters  complaining  of  his  administration,  piling 
upon  him  the  most  frightful  abuse  for  a  do  nothing  in  the 
Presidential  chair.  The  reading  of  letters  of  this  class 
occupied  an  hour,  He  also  read  a  letter  from  the  French- 
man Gasparin,  who  advised  him  to  do  nothing  that  was 
revolutionary,  and  urging  the  claims  of  legitimacy.  He 
argued  that  the  South  were  revolutionists,  and  asked 
whether  a  proclamation  freeing  the  slaves  might  not 
render  the  Northerners  revolutionists  themselves. 

Lincoln  then  reviewed  the  three  kinds  of  letters,  and 
also  gave  his  own  views  as  to  the  probable  results  of 
freeing  the  negroes,  his  great  fear  being  that  they 
might,  thus  freed,  become  an  element  of  weakness  to 
their  liberators. 

"Before  the  interview  was  ended,  I,  pondering  upon 
what  Mr.  Lincoln  had  said  about  having  written  some- 
thing upon  the  subject  of  emancipation,  made  a  guess 
that  he  had  in  the  drawer  before  him  the  proclamation 
ready  written,  and  I  asked  the  President  to  let  me  see 
what  he  had  prepared  on  the  subject.  Lincoln  asked 
me  not  to  press  the  request,  and  I  abstained  from  doing 
so,  but  three  weeks  afterward,  when  the  proclamation 
had  been  issued,  the  President  acknowledged  to  me  that 
my  guess  had  been  a  correct  one,  and  that  the  document 
was,  at  the  time  of  the  interview,  lying  in  the  very  spot 
I  had  mentioned. 


218  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

As  soon  as  Lincoln  saw  that  the  negro  slave  could  be- 
come a  soldier  he  saw  that  he  had  the  material  out  of 
which  the  rebellion  could  be  crushed,  and  it  is  my  belief 
that  from  this  time  forward  Lincoln  had  a  clear  sight  of 
the  victory  that  stood  at  the  end  of  the  war. 

Speaking  of  Lincoln's  habits,  the  Hon.  Leonard  Swett 
says: 

"The  martyr-President  was  used  to  work  all  his  life, 
but  never  to  its  dissipations.  With  him  morning  meant 
6  o'clock  a.  m. ,  and,  as  a  rule,  he  had  finished  breakfast 
and  was  at  work  at  7  o'olock.  What  tore  his  heart  most 
of  all  during  the  war,  was  an  approval  of  the  death  pen- 
alty. He  had  a  horror  of  blood,  and  although  he  knew 
that  under  certain  circumstances  he  could  not  avoid  sign- 
ing the  death-warrant  for  desertion,  it  always  caused  him 
infinite  pain  to  do  so. 

One  morning  Mr.  Swett  found  him  sitting  in  the  "east 
room"  before  a  pile  of  papers.  They  sat  together,  chatt- 
ed and  told  stories.  It  was  a  Thursday,  and  Friday  was 
always  the  day  upon  which  deserters  were  shot.  Sudden- 
ly Lincoln  arose  and  said: 

"Swett,  go  out  of  here;  to-morrow  is  butcher's  day, 
and  I've  got  to  go  through  these  papers  notto  see  if  they 
are  regular,  but  if  I  can't  find  something  by  which  I  can 
let  them  off. " 


■:o:- 


Lincoln  and  the  Colored  People  of  Richmond. 

G.  F.  Shepley  gives  the  following    interesting  remin- 
iscence: 
After  Mr.  Lincoln's  interview   with   Judge    Campbell, 


WAR    SCENES.  2IO, 

the  President,  about  to  return  to  the  Wabash,  I  took  him 
and  Admiral  Porter  in  my  carriage.  An  immense  con- 
course of  colored  people  thronged  the  streets,  accomp- 
anied and  followed  the  carriage,  calling  upon  the  Presi- 
dent with  the  wildest  exclamations  of  gratitude  and 
delight. 

He  was  the  Moses,  the  Messiah,  to  the  slaves  of  the 
South.  Hundreds  of  colored  women  tossed  their  hands 
high  in  the  air  and  then  bent  down  to  the  ground  weep- 
ing for  joy.  Some  shouted  songs  of  deliverance,  and  sang 
the  old  plantation  refrains,  which  had  prophesied  the 
coming  of  a  deliverer  from  bondage.  "God  bless  you, 
Father  Abraham!"    went    up    from  a  thousand  throats. 

Those  only  who  have  seen  the  paroxysmal  enthusiasm 
of  a  religious  meeting  of  slaves  can  form  an  adequate 
conception  of  the  way  in  which  the  tears  and  smiles,  and 
shouts  of  these  emancipated  people  evinced  the  frenzy  of 
their  gratitude  to  their  deliverer.  He  looked  at  all  at- 
tentively, with  a  face  expressive  only  of  a  sort  of  pathetic 
wonder. 

Occasionally  its  sadness  would  alternate  with  one  of 
his  peculiar  smiles,  and  he  would  remark  on  the  great 
proportion  of  those  whose  color  indicated  a  mixed  line- 
age from  the  white  master  and  the  black  slave;  and  that 
reminded  him  of  some  little  story  of  his  life  in  Kentucky, 
which  he  would  smilingly  tell;  aud  then  his  face  would 
relapse  again  into  that  sad  expression  which  all  will  re- 
member who  saw  him  during  the  last  few  weeks  of  the 
rebellion.  Perhaps  it  was  a  presentiment  of  his  impend- 
ing fate. 

I  accompanied  him  to  the  ship,  bade  him  farewell  and 
left   him   to  see    his   face    no    more.       Not  long  after, 


220  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

the  bullet  of  i;he  assassin  arrested  the  beatings  of 
one  of  the  kindest  hearts  that  ever  throbbed  in  human 
bosom. 

:o: 


Lincoln's  First  Convictions  of  War. — His 
Great  Sadness. 

The  Hon.  Leonard  Swett,  in  an  address  before  the 
Union  Veteran  Club  at  Chicago,  gives  the  following  in- 
teresting reminiscence: 

I  remember  well  the  first  time  that  the  belief  that  war 
was  inevitable  took  hold  of  Lincoln's  mind.  Some  time 
after  the  election  Lincoln  asked  me  to  write  a  letter  to 
Thurlow  Weed  to  come  to  Springfield  and  consult  with 
him  (Lincoln).  Mr.  Weed  came,  and  he,  the  President- 
elect, and  myself  had  a  meeting,  in  which  Lincoln  for 
the  first  time  acknowledged  that  he  was  in  possession  of 
facts  that  showed  that  the  South  meant  war. 

These  facts  consisted  of  the  steps  which  the  disaffect- 
ed States  were  taking  to  spirit  away  the  arms  belonging 
to  the  Government,  and,  taking  them  into  consideration, 
Lincoln  was  forced  to  the  belief  that  his  Administration 
was  to  be  one  of  blood. 

As  he  made  this  admission  his  countenance  rather 
than  his  words  demonstrated  the  sadness  which  it  occa- 
sioned, and  he  wanted  to  know  if  there  was  not  some 
way  of  avoiding  the  disaster.  He  felt  as  if  he  could  not 
go  forward  to  an  era  of  war,  and  these  days  were  to  him 
a  sort  of  forty  days  in  the  wilderness,  passed  under  great 
stress  of  doubt  and,  perhaps  to  him,  of  temptations  of 
weakness.  Finally,  however,  he  seemed  quietly  to  put 
on  the  armor  and  prepare  himself  for  the  great  responsi- 
bility and  struggle  before  him. 


WAR   STORIES.  221 

Gen   C.  H.  Howard's  Reminiscences. 

Gen.  Howard  in  the  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate 
says: 

It  was  soon  after  the  battle  of  Antietam,  and  while 
our  army  was  resting  and  refitting  with  clothing  and 
other  needed  supplies  in  the  vicinity  of  Harper's  Ferry, 
that  I  first  saw  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  visited  the  dif- 
ferent corps  and  divisions,  reviewed  the  troops  and  held 
brief  interviews  with  the  leading  officers.  It  need  not  be 
stated  that  he  was  warm  in  his  commendation  of  the 
valor  and  endurance  of  the  troops.  Cheer  upon  cheer 
greeted  him  as  he  passed  from  brigade  to  brigade,  and 
sometimes  he  had  a  few  words  of  encouragement  for  a 
single  regiment  which  had  distinguished  itself. 

Subordinate  officers,  when  asked  about  the  condition 
of  their  soldiers,  were  not  backward  in  speaking  of  the 
need  of  shoes  and  other  clothing,  and  of  the  decimated 
condition  of  many  of  the  regiments  resulting  from  the 
diseases  and  hard  campaigning  of  the  Chickahominy 
swamps  scarcely  less  from  the  numerous  battles  in  which 
they  had  taken  a  noble  part.  The  fact  that  a  campaign 
or  a  battle  had  been  badly  conducted  and  was  disastrous 
was  neither  proof  that  the  troops  had  not  done  their  duty 
nor  that  their  losses  had  not  been  great.  President  Lin- 
coln expressed  in  the  most  kindly  and  feeling  way  his 
sympathy  with  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army .  There 
was  a  gentle  and  serious  expression  of  countenance 
which  seemed  to  comport  with  his  known  character  for 
truth  and  serenity  of  heart. 

Nearly  two  years  elapsed  when  I  ha<3  another  inter- 
view with  Abraham  Lincoln  which  it  is    the    purpose   of 


222  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

this  paper  to  mention.  The  writer  had  been  transferred 
to  the  Western  department,  and  had  taken  part  in  the 
Atlanta  campaign  and  in  Sherman's  famous  "March  to 
the  Sea. "  On  the  first  day  of  January,  1865,  he  had 
left  Savannah  to  go  via  steamship  to  New  York,  and 
thence  by  rail  to  Washington  with  official  dispatches. 
Sherman  had  sent  his  unique  telegram  to  the  President 
on  Christmas  eve  announcing  as  a  Christmas  present  the 
capture  of  Savannah.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  rail- 
roads had  been  destroyed  this  dispatch  had  been  sent  by 
special  steamer  to  Fortress  Monroe  and  thence  by  tele- 
graph to  Washington.  But  President  Lincoln  had  not 
yet  seen  any  person  who  had  marched  through  Georgia 
with  Sherman. 

It  was  early  in  the  day  when  my  card  was  given  to  the 
messenger  in  the  ante-room  of  the  White  House.  He 
shook  his  head  and  pointed  to  the  crowds  in  waiting,  fill- 
ing the  ante-room  and  thronging  even  the  lower  hall  and 
the  stairway.  He  called  my  attention  to  the  fact  that 
there  were  congressmen  of  the  number  who  were  suppos- 
ed to  have  precedence  in  calling  upon  the  President. 
Nevertheless,  I  requested  him  to  give  the  President  the 
card  which  indicated  that  I  had  dispatches  from  Sher- 
man's army.  The  messenger  returned  within  a  few  min- 
utes and  invited  me  in.  First,  we  entered  a  room  occu- 
pied by  the  President's  secretaries,  and  there  I  saw  one 
or  two  senators  in  waiting,  and  passing  through  this  room 
I  was  ushered  into  a  smaller  room,  where  I  saw  President 
Lincoln  standing  at  a  glass  shaving  himself.  He  paused 
a  moment,  came  to  me  with  a  droll  look,  heightened  no 
doubt  by  the  half-lathered,  half-shaved  face,  gave  me  his 
hand,  and  asked  me  to  take  a  seat  on  the  sofa,  saying,  as 


WAR    STORIES.  223 

he  returned  to  the  mirror,  that  he  could  not  even  wait 
till  he  had  finished  shaving  when  an  officer  from  Sher- 
man's army  had  come.  Of  course  the  youthful  staff  offi- 
cer was  somewhat  abashed  in  coming  into  the  presence  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  his  commander-in- 
chief,  and  the  now  world-renowned  Abraham  Lincoln. 
But  the  President's  frank  and  cordial  manner  when,  on 
the  completion  of  his  toilet,  he  came  and  took  the  right 
hand  of  his  visitor  between  both  of  his  large  hands  and 
then  sat  down  beside  him  on  the  sofa,  immediately  put 
him  at  his  ease.  Naturally,  the  President  had  many 
questions  to  ask  concerning  the  "March  to  the  Sea."  It 
was  apparent  he  had  been  very  anxious,  as  no  doubt  had 
the  entire  North,  during  the  thirty  days  or  more  when 
nothing  was  heard  from  the  vanquished  army.  He  was 
interested  to  know  in  detail  the  daily  operations. 

:o: 


Getting  at  the  Pass-Word. 

An  amusing  story  is  attributed  to  the  late  President 
Lincoln  about  the  Iowa  First,  and  the  changes  which  a 
certain  pass-word  underwent  about  the  time  of  the  battle 
of  Springfield. 

One  of  the  Dubuque  officers,  whose  duty  it  was  to  fur- 
nish the  guards  with  a  pass- word  at  night,  gave  the  word 
"Potomac." 

A  German  on  guard,  not  comprehending  distinctly  the 
difference  between  B's  and  P's,  understood  it  to  be  "Bot- 
tomic,"  and  this,  on  being  transferred  to  another,  was 
corrupted  into  "Buttermilk." 

Soon  afterward  the  officer  who  had  given  the  word 
wished  to  return  through  the  lines,   and  on    approaching 


224  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

the  sentinel  was  ordered  to  halt,  and  the  word  demand- 
ed.    He  gave  the  word  "Potomac." 

"Nicht  right;  you  don't  pass  mit  me  dis  way." 

"But  this  is  the  word,  and  I  will  pass." 

"No,  you  stan',"  at  the  same  time  placing  a  bayonet 
at  his  breast,  in  a  manner  that  told  the  officer  that  "Po- 
tomac" didn't  pass  in  Missouri. 

"What  is  the  word  then?" 

"Buttermilk." 

"Well,  then,  buttermilk." 

"Dat  is  right;  now  you  pass  mit  yourself  all  about 
your  piziness." 

There  was  then  a  general  overhauling  of  the  pass- 
word, and  the  difference  between  Potomac  and  Butter- 
milk being  understood,  the  joke  became  one  of  the 
laughable  incidents  of  the  campaign. 


-:o:- 


Lincoln  and  a  Clergyman. 

At  the  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  New  Jersey  Histor- 
ical Society,,  held  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  Rev.  Dr.  Sheldon, 
of  Princeton,  read  a  memorial  of  their  late  President, 
Rev.  R.  R.  Rodgers,  D.  D.,  in  which  occurs  the  follow- 
ing incident  concerning  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the  war. 

One  day  during  the  war,  Dr .  Rodgers  was  called  on 
by  a  man  in  his  congregation,  who,  in  great  distress, 
told  him  that  his  son,  a  soldier  in  the  army,  had  just 
been  sentenced  to  be  shot  for  desertion,  and  begged  the 
minister's  interposition. 

The  Doctor  went  to  Washington  with  the  wife  and  in- 
fant child  of  the  condemned  man,  and  sent  his  card  up  to 
Mr.  Lincoln.     When  admitted,  the  President  said: 


WAR    STORIES.  22  5 

'  'You  are  a  minister,  I  believe.  What  can  I  do  for 
you,  my  friend?" 

'The  reply  was:  "A  young  man  from  my  congrega- 
tion in  the  army  has  so  far  forgotten  his  duty  to  his 
country  and  his  God  as  to  desert  his  colors,  and  is  sen- 
tenced to  die.      I  have  come  to  ask  you  to  spare  him.' 

With  characteristic  quaintness  the  President  replied: 
'Then  you  don't  want  him  hurt,  do  you?' 

'Oh,  no,'  said  the  petitioner,  'I  did  not  mean  that;  he 
deserves  punishment,  but  I  beg  for  him  time  to  prepare 
to  meet  his  God.' 

'Do  you  say  he  has  father,  wife  and  child?'  said  Mr. 
Lincoln. 

'Yes.' 

'Where  do  you  say  he  is?' 

On  being  told  ,  he  turned  to  his  secretary,  said  a  few 
words  in  an  undertone,  of  which  that  official  made  note, 
and  added  to  Dr.  Rodgers,  'You  have  your  request . 
Tell  your  friends  I  have  reprieved  him.' 

With  a  'God  bless  you,  Mr.  President,'  Dr.  Rodgers 
turned  away  to  bear  the  glad  news  to  the  distressed 
family." 


-:o: 


The    President   Advises    Secretary  Stanton   to 
Prepare  for  Death. 

The  imperious  Stanton,  when  Secretary  of  War,  took 
a  fancy  one  day  for  a  house  in  Washington  that  Lamon 
had  just  bargained  for.  Lamon  not  only  did  not  vacate, 
but  went  to  Stanton  and  said  he  would  kill  him  if  he  in- 
terfered with  the  house.     Stanton   was   furious    at    the 


226  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

threat,  and  made  it  known  at  once  to  Lincoln.   The  lat- 
ter said  to  the  astonished  War  Secretary: 

"Well,  Stanton,  if  Ward  has  said  he  will  kill  you,  he 
certainly  will,  and  I'd  advise  you  to  prepare  for  death 
without  further  delay." 

The  President  promised,  however,  to  do  what  he  could 
to  appease  the  murderous  Marshal,  and  this  was  the  end 
of  Stanton's  attempt  on  the  house. 


■:o:- 


••A  Great  Deal  of  Shuck  for  a  Little  Nubbin." 

At  the  peace  conference  which  occured  in  February, 
1865,  at  Fortress  Monroe,  President  Lincoln  and  Secre- 
tary Seward  were  on  one  side,  and  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  John  A  Campbell  and  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  on  the 
other.  The  attenuation  of  Mr.  Stephens  has  so  long 
been  a  matter  of  such  general  notoriety  that  it  is  not  of- 
fensive to  speak  of  it.  It  seems  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
never  seen  Mr.  Stephens  before.  At  that  time  a  kind  of 
cloth  was  worn  by  Southern  gentlemen,  nearly  the  shade 
of  ordinary  corn  husk,  and  Mr.  Stephens'  great  coat  was 
made  of  that  material.  But  Mr.  Stephens,  who  always 
had  been  a  frail  man,  wore  many  other  garments  be- 
neath to  protect  him  against  the  raw  wind  of  Hampton 
Roads;  and  Mr.  Lincoln  watched  with  much  interest  the 
process  of  shedding  until  the  man  was  finally  reached. 
At  last  Mr.  Stephens  stood  forth  in  his  physical  entity, 
ready  for  business.  Mr.  Lincoln,  giving  Gov.  Seward 
one  of  his  most  comical  looks,  and  pointing  to  the  dis- 
carded coats,  said: 


WAR    STORIES.  227 

"Well,  I  never  saw  as  much  shuck  for  as  little  a  nub- 
bin in  my  life." 

:o: 

"Tad's"  Rebel  Flag. 

One  of  the  prettiest  incident's  in  the  closing  days  of 
the  civil  war  occurred  when  the  troops  '  'marching  home 
again"  passed  in  grand  form,  if  with  well-worn  uniforms 
and  tattered  bunting,  before  the  White  House,  says 
Harper's  Young  People. 

Naturally,  an  immense  crowd  had  assembled  on  the 
streets,  the  lawns,  porches,  balconies,  and  windows, 
even  those  of  the  executive  mansion  itself  being  crowded 
to  excess.  A  central  figure  was  that  of  the  President, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  who,  with  bared  head,  unfurled  and 
waved  our  nation's  flag  in  the  midst  of  lusty  cheers. 

But  suddenly  there  was  an  unexpected  sight. 

A  small  boy  leaned  forward  and  sent  streaming  to  the 
air  the  banner  of  the  boys  in  gray.  It  was  an  old  flag 
which  had  been  captured  from  the  Confederates,  and 
which  the  urchin,  the  President's  second  son,  Tad,  had 
obtained  possession  of  and  considered  an  additional 
triumph  to  unfurl  on  this  all-important  day. 

Vainly  did  the  servant  who  had  followed  him  to  the 
window  plead  with  him  to  desist.  No,  Master  Tad,  the 
Pet  of  the  White  House,  was  not  to  be  prevented  from 
adding  to  the  loyal  demonstration  of  the  hour. 

To  his  surprise,  however,  the  crowd  viewed  it  differ- 
ently. Had  it  floated  from  any  other  window  in  the  cap- 
ital that  day,  no  doubt  it  would  have  been  the  target  of 
contempt  and  abuse;  but  when  the  President,  under- 
standing what  had  happened,  turned,  with  a  smile  on  his 


228  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

grand,  plain  face  and  showed  his  approval  by   a   gesture 
and  expression,  cheer  after  cheer  rent  the  air. 

It  was,  surely  enough,  the  expression  of  peace  and 
good  will  which,  of  all  our  commanders,  none  was  bet- 
ter pleased  to  promote  than  our  commander-in-chief. 


-:o:- 


A  Position  That  Lincoln  Wanted. 

A  gentleman  named  Farquhar  of  York,  Pa. ,  did  not 
enlist  because  he  was  a  Quaker.  In  the  course  of  the 
war  General  Early  marched  before  York  and  threatened 
to  burn  the  houses  of  its  peaceful  citizens  unless  a  ran- 
some  of  $25,000  was  forthcoming. 

Mr.  F was   foremost  in    arranging    matters   and 

struck  a  bargain  with  the  Confederates  which,  while 
they  were  near,  seemed  very  clever  to  his  fellow-towns- 
men, but  when  they  marched  away,  brought  forth  many 
bitter  complaints. 

The  whole  matter  set  Mr.  F thinking.     The    war 

ought  to  be  ended.  So  he  set  out  for  Washington  to 
offer  his  services  to  the  government.  He  called  upon 
Mr.  Lincoln,  told  him  how  he  felt,  and  said  he  wished 
to  help  his  country. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "come  with  me  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  war  and  I  will  give  you  a  position  which  I 
would  gladly  take  myself." 

They  were  soon  in  Mr.  Stanton's  office.  Lincoln 
made  a  sign  to  the  Secretary,  who  produced  a  Bible  and 

proceeded  to  swear  Mr.    F into   the   United    States 

service. 

The  ceremony  had  not  gone  very  far  when  he   discov- 


WAR    STORIES.  229 

ered  that  the  position  Mr.  Lincoln  coveted  was  that  of  a 

a  private  soldier.      Mr.    F showed    alarm    and    the 

President  laughingly  released  him. 


•:o:- 


A  Lincoln  Story  About  Little    Dan  Webster's 

Soiled  Hands! — How  Dan  Escaped  a 

Flogging. 

Mr.  Lincoln  on  one  occasion  narrated  to  Hon.  Mr. 
Odell  and  others,  with  much  zest,  the  following  story 
about  young  Daniel  Webster: 

When  quite  young,  at  school,  Daniel  was  one  day 
guilty  of  a  gross  violation  of  the  rules.  He  was  detected 
in  the  act,  and  called  up  by  the  teacher  for  punishment. 
This  was  to  be  the  old  fashioned  "feruling"  of  the  hand. 
His  hands  happened  to  be  very  dirty.  Knowing  this, 
on  the  way  to  the  teacher's  desk,  he  spit  upon  the  palm 
of  his  right  hand,  wiping  it  off  upon  the  side  of  his  pant- 
aloons. 

"Give  me  your  hand,  sir,"  said  the  teacher,  very 
sternly. 

Out  went  the  right  hand,  partly  cleansed.  The  teach- 
er looked  at  it  a  moment,  and  said: 

"Daniel!  if  you  will  find  another  hand  in  this  school- 
room as  filthy  as  that,  I  will  let  you  off  this  time!" 

Instantly  from  behind  the  back  came  the  left  hand. 
"Here  it  is  sir,"  was  the  ready  reply. 

'  'That  will  do, "  said  the  teacher, ' '  for  this  time ;  you  can 
take  your  seat,  sir." 

:o: 


230  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

Lincoln    and    the    LittJe   Baby — A    Touching 

Story. 

"Old  Daniel,"  who  was  one  of  the  White   House    ush- 
ers, is  responsible  for  the  following  touching  story: 

A  poor  woman  from  Philadelphia  had  been  waiting 
with  a  baby  in  her  arms  for  several  days  to  see  the 
President.  It  appeared  by  her  story,  that  her  husband 
had  furnished  a  substitute  for  the  army,  but  some  time 
afterward,  in  a  state  of  intoxication,  was  induced  to  en- 
list. Upon  reaching  the  post  assigned  his  regiment,  he 
deserted,  thinking  the  Government  was  not  entitled  to 
his  services.  Returning  home,  he  was  arrested,  tried, 
convicted  and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  The  sentence  was 
to  be  executed  on  a  Saturday.  On  Monday  his  wife  left 
home  with  her  baby  to  endeavor  to  see  the  President . 

Said  Daniel,  "She  had  been  waiting  here  three  days, 
and  there  was  no  chance  for  her  to  get  in.  Late  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  third  day,  the  President  was  going 
through  the  passage  to  his  private  room  to  get  a  cup  of 
tea.  On  the  way  he  heard  the  baby  cry.  He  instantly 
went  back  to  his  office  and  rang  the  bell. 

"Daniel,"  said  he,  "is  there  a  woman  with  a  baby  in 
the  ante-room?" 

I  said  there  was,  and  if  he  would  allow  me  to  say  it, 
it  was  a  case  he  ought  to  see;  for  it  was  a  matter  of  life 
and  death. 

"Said  he,   "Send  her  to  me  at  once." 

She  went  in,  told  her  story,  and  the  President  pardon- 
ed her  husband. 

As  the  woman  came  out  from  his   presence,    her   eyes 


WAR    STORIES. 


231 


were    lifted    and  her  lips    moving    in    prayer,   the  tears 
streaming  down  her  cheeks. 

Said  Daniel,   "I  went  up  to  her,  and  pulling  her  shawl, 
said,   'Madam,  it  was  the  baby  that  did  it.'  " 


-:o:- 


DWIGHT   L.    MOODY. 


D.  L.  Moody's  Story  of  Lincoln's   Compassion 
—What  a  Little  Girl  Did  With  Mr. 
Lincoln  to  Save  Her 
Brother. 

During  the  war,  says  D.  L.  Moody,  I  remember  a 
young  man,  not  twenty,  who  was  court-martialed  at  the 
front  and  sentenced  to  be  shot.      The  story  was  this: 


232  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

The  young  fellow  had  enlisted.  He  was  not  obliged 
to,  but  he  went  off  with  another  young  man.  They  were 
what  we  would  call  "chums." 

One  night  his  companion  was  ordered  out  on  picket 
duty,  and  he  asked  the  young  man  to  go  for  him.  The 
next  night  he  was  ordered  out  himself;  and  having  been 
awake  two  nights,  and  not  being  used  to  it,  fell  asleep 
at  his  post,  and  for  the  offense  he  was  tried  and  sen- 
tenced to  death.  It  was  right  after  the  order  issued  by 
the  President  that  no  interference  would  be  allowed  in 
cases  of  this  kind.  This  sort  of  thing  had  become  too 
frequent,  and  it  must  be  stopped. 

When  the  news  reached  the  father  and  mother  in 
Vermont  it  nearly  broke  their  hearts.  The  thought  that 
their  son  should  be  shot  was  too  great  for  them.  They 
had  no  hope  that  he  could  be  saved  by  anything  that 
they  could  do. 

But  they  had  a  little  daughter  who  had  read  the  life 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  knew  how  he  loved  his  own 
children,  and  she  said: 

"If  Abraham  Lincoln  knew  how  my  father  and  mother 
loved  my  brother  he  wouldn't  let  him  be  shot." 

The  little  girl  thought  this  matter  over  and  made  up 
her  mind  to  see  the  President. 

She  went  to  the  White  House,  and  the  sentinel,  when 
he  saw  her  imploring  looks,  passed  her  in,  and  when  she 
came  to  the  door  and  told  the  private  secretary  that  she 
wanted  to  see  the  President,  he  could  not  refuse  her. 
She  came  into  the  chamber  and  found  Abraham  Lincoln 
surrounded  by  his  generals  and  counselors,  and  when  he 
saw  the  little  country  girl  the  asked  her  what  she 
wanted. 


WAR    STORIES.     .  233 

The  little  maid  told  her  plain,  simple  story — how  her 
brother,  whom  her  father  and  mother  loved  very  dearly, 
had  been  sentenced  to  be  shot;  how  they  were  mourn- 
ing for  him,  and  if  he  was  to  die  in  that  way  it  would 
break  their  hearts. 

The  President's  heart  was  touched  with  compassion, 
and  he  immediately  sent  a  dispatch  canceling  the  sen- 
tence and  giving  the  boy  a  parole  so  that  he  could  come 
home  and  see  his  father  and  mother.  I  just  tell  you 
this  to  show  you  how  Abraham  Lincoln's  heart  was 
moved  by  compassion  for  the  sorrow  of  that  father  and 
mother,  and  if  he  showed  so  much  do  you  think  the  Son 
of  Godwill  not  have  compassion  upon  you,  sinner,  if  you 
only  take  that  crushed,  bruised  heart  to  him? 


-:o:- 


Honorable   Frederick  Douglas'  Reminiscences. 

The  well-known  Frederick  Douglas  in  the  Northwest- 
ern Advocate  says: 

I  saw  and  conversed  with  this  great  man  for  the  first 
time  in  the  darkest  hours  of  the  military  situation  when 
the  armies  of  the  rebellion  seemed  more  confident,  de- 
fiant and  aggressive  than  ever. 

I  had  never  before  had  an  interview  with  a  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  though  I  felt  I  had  something 
important  to  say,  considering  his  exalted  position  and 
my  lowly  origin  and  the  people  whose  cause  I  came  to 
plead,  I  approached  him  with  much  trepidation  as  to 
how  this  great  man  might  receive  me;  but  one  word  and 
look  from  him  banished  all  my  fears  and  set  me  perfectly 
at  ease.      I    have    often   said  since   that   meeting  it  was 


234  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

much  easier  to  see  and  converse  with  a  great  man  than  a 
small  man. 

On  that  occasion  he  said: 

'  'Douglas,  you  need  not  tell  me  who  you  are,  Mr. 
Seward  has  told  me  all  about  you . " 

I  then  saw  that  there  was  no  reason  to  tell  him  my 
personal  story,  however  interesting  it  might  be  to  myself 
or  others,  so  I  told  him  at  once  the  object  of  my  visit. 
It  was  to  get  some  expression  from  him  upon  three 
points. 

i.      Equal  pay  to  colored  soldiers. 

2.  Their  promotion  when  they  had  earned  it  on  the 
battlefield. 

3.  Should  they  be  taken  prisoners  and  enslaved  or 
hanged,  as  Jefferson  Davis  had  threatened,  an  equal 
number  of  Confederate  prisoners  should  be  executed 
within  our  lines. 

A  declaration  to  that  effect  I  thought  would  prevent 
the  execution  of  the  rebel  threat.  To  all  but  the  last 
President  Lincoln  assented,  He  argued,  however,  that 
neither  equal  pay  nor  promotion  could  be  granted  at 
once.  He  said  that  in  view  of  existing  prejudices  it  was 
a  great  step  forward  to  employ  colored  troops  at  all;  that 
it  was  necessary  to  avoid  everything  that  would  offend 
this  prejudice  and  increase  opposition  to  the  measure. 

He  detailed  the  steps  by  which  white  soldiers  were 
reconciled  to  the  employment  of  colored  troops;  how 
these  were  first  employed  as  laborers;  how  it  was  thought 
they  should  not  be  armed  or  uniformed  like  white  sold- 
iers; how  they  should  only  be  made  to  wear  a  peculiar 
uniform;  how  they  should  be  employed  to  hold  forts  and 


WAR    STORIES.  235 

arsenals  in  sickly  locations,  and  not  enter  the   field   like 
other  soldiers. 

With  all  these  restrictions  and  limitations  he  easily 
made  me  see  that  much  would  be  gained  when  the  col- 
ored man  loomed  before  the  country  as  a  full-fledged 
United  States  soldier  to  fight,  flourish  or  fall  in  defense 
of  a  united  republic.  The  great  soul  of  Lincoln  halted 
only  when  he  came  to  the  point  of  retaliation. 

The  thought  of  hanging  men  in  cold  blood,  even  though 
the  rebels  should  murder  a  few  of  the  colored  prisoners, 
was  a  horror  from  which  he  shrunk. 

"Oh,  Douglas!  I  cannot  do  that.  If  I  could  get  hold 
of  the  actual  murderers  of  colored  prisoners,  I  would  re- 
taliate; but  to  hang  those  who  had  no  hand  in  such  mur- 
ders, I  cannot." 

The  contemplation  of  such  an  act  brought  to  his 
countenance  such  an  expression  of  sadness  and  pity  that 
it  made  it  hard  for  me  to  press  my  point,  though  I  told 
him  it  would  tend  to  save  rather  than  destroy  life.  He, 
however,  insisted  that  this  work  of  blood  once  begun 
would  be  hard  to  stop;  that  such  violence  would  beget 
violence.  He  argued  more  like  a  disciple  of  Christ  than 
a  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  a  war- 
like nation  already  involved  in  a  terrible  war. 

How  sad  and  strange  the  fate  of  this  great  and  good 
man,  the  savior  of  his  country,  the  embodiment  of  hu- 
man charity,  whose  heart,  though  strong,  was  as  tender 
as  the  heart  of  childhood;  who  always  tempered  justice 
with  mercy;  who  sought  to  supplant  the  sword  with  the 
counsel  of  reason,  to  suppress  passion  by  kindness  and 
moderation;  who  had  a  sigh  for  every  human  grief  and  a 
tear  for  every  human  woe,  should  at  last    perish   by  the 


236  LINCOLN    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

hand  of  a  desperate  assassin,  against   whom  no  thought 
of  malice  had  ever  entered  his  heart. 


:o: 


Dr.  Edwards  Bumping  the  President. 

The  popular  editor  of  the  Northwestern  Advocate,  Dr. 
Arthur  Edwards,  is  responsible  for  the  following,  which 
we  take  from  the  editorials  of  his  excellent  paper: 

Early  in  the  war  it  became  this  writer's  duty,  for  a 
brief  period,  to  carry  certain  reports  to  the  War  Depart- 
ment in  Washington,  at  about  nine  in  the  morning.  Be- 
ing late  one  morning,  we  were  in  a  desperate  hurry  to 
deliver  the  papers  in  order  to  be  able  to  catch  the  train 
returning  to  camp.  • 

On  the  winding,  dark  staircase  of  the  old  War  De- 
partment, which  many  will  remember,  it  was  our  mis- 
fortune, while  taking  about  three  stairs  at  a  time,  to 
run  a  certain  head  like  a  catapult  into  the  body  of  the 
President,  striking  him  in  the  region  of  the  right  lower 
vest  pocket. 

The  usual  surprised  and  relaxed  human  grunt  of  a  man 
thus  assailed  came  promptly.  We  quickly  sent  an 
apology  in  the  direction  of  the  dimly  seen  form,  feeling 
that  the  ungracious  shock  was  expensive,  even  to  the 
humblest  clerk  in  the  department. 

A  second  glance  revealed  to  us  the  President  as  the 
victim  of  the  collision.  Then  followed  a  special  tender 
of  "ten  thousand  pardons,"  and  the  President's  reply: 

"One's  enough;  I  wish  the  whole  army  would  charge 
like  that." 

:o: 


WAR    STORIES.  237 

Lincoln  "Taking  Up  a  Collection." 

While  the  army  of  the  Potomac  was  near  Falmouth, 
on  the  river  opposite  Fredericksburg,  Va. ,  early  in  the 
war,  Mr.  Lincoln  reviewed,  says  Dr.  Edwards  in  the 
Northwestern  Advocate,  and  inspected  that  splendid 
body  of  troops,  100,000  strong.  Those  who  were  pres- 
ent remember  the  quiet  Dobbin  ridden  by  the  President. 
The  steed  proceeded  soberly,  as  if  he  had  been  put  upon 
his  equine  honor  to  be  kind  to  his  illustrious  rider. 

During  a  part  of  the  formality  when  the  reviewing  of- 
ficer or  personage  is  specially  the  center  of  all  eyes,  Mr. 
Lincoln  carried  his  tall  "plug  hat"  in  his  hand,  and,  as 
he  bumped  up  and  down  in  his  saddle,  bowed  right  and 
left  to  the  magnificent  military  lines.  The  right  arm 
was  extended  almost  horizontally,  and  the  hand  grasped 
the  hat's  ample  brim. 

The  whole  aspect  of  the  now  historic  man  abundantly 
justified  the  suggestion  of  a  certain  Methodist  who  was 
present,  to  the  effect  that  "the  dear  old  gentleman  looks 
as  if  he  were  about  to  take  up  a  collection." 

The  joker  was  discounted  on  the  ground  that  he  was 
indulging  in  his  Methodfst  traditions  as  far  as  the  collec- 
tion was  concerned,  but  the  second  look  at  the  horse  and 
rider  aided  many  a  kindly  smile.  It  was  said  at  the  time 
that  Mr.  Lincoln's  visit  to  the  army  was  in  part  to  enable 
him  to  escape  the  importunities  of  office-seekers  and  in- 
dustrious advisers  in  Washington. 


-:o:- 


238  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

An  Inauguration  Incident. 

Noah  Brooks,  in  his  "Reminiscences,"  relates  the  fol- 
lowing incident: 

While  the  ceremonies  of  the  second  inauguration  were 
in  progress,  just  as  Lincoln  stepped  forward  to  take  the 
oath  of  office,  the  sun,  which  had  been  obscured  by  rain- 
clouds,  burst  forth  in  splendor.  In  conversation  the 
next  day,  the  President  asked: 

"Did  you  notice  that  sun-burst?  It  made  my  heart 
jump." 

Later  in  the  month,  Miss  Anna  Dickinson,  in  a  lecture 
delivered  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  elo- 
quently alluded  to  the  sun-burst  as  a  happy  omen.  The 
President  sat  directly  in  front  of  the  speaker,  and  from 
the  reporter's  gallery,  behind  her,  I  had  caught  his  eye, 
soon  after  he  sat  down.  When  Miss  Dickinson  referred 
to  the  sunbeam,  he  looked  up  to  me,  involuntarily,  and 
I  thought  his  eyes  were  suffused  with  moisture.  Per- 
haps they  were;  but  the  next  day  he  said: 

"I  wonder  if  Miss  Dickinson  saw  me  wink  at  you?" 


:o:- 


The  Brigadier  Generals  and  the  Horses. 

When  President  Lincoln  heard  of  the  rebel  raid  at 
Fairfax,  in  which  a  brigadier-general  and  a  number  of 
valuable  horses  were  captured,  he  gravely  observed: 

"Well,  I  am  sorry  for  the  horses." 

"Sorry  for  the  horses,  Mr.  President!'  exclaimed  the 
Secretary  of  War,  raising  his  spectacles,  and  throwing 
himself  back  in  his  chair  in  astonishment. 

'iYes,"  replied  Mr.  Lincoln,   "I  can  make  a  brigadier- 


WAR    STORIES.  239 

general  in  five  minutes,  but  it  is  not    easy    to    replace  a 
hundred  and  ten  horses. " 


:o:- 


Lincoln  and  Stanton  Fixing  up  Peace  Between 
the  Two  Contending  Armies. 

"On  the  night  of  the  3d  of  March,  the  Secretary  of 
War,  with  others  of  the  Cabinet,  were  in  the  company  of 
the  President,  at  the  Capitol,  awaiting  the  passage  of  the 
final  bills  of  Congress.  In  the  intervals  of  reading  and 
signing  these  documents,  the  military  situation  was  con- 
sidered—the lively  conversation  tinged  by  the  confident 
and  glowing  account  of  General  Grant,  of  his  mastery  of 
the  position,  and  of  his  belief  that  a  few  days  more  would 
see  Richmond  in  our  posession,  and  the  army  of  Lee 
either  dispersed  utterly  or  captured  bodily — when  the 
telegram  from  Grant  was  received,  saying  that  Lee  had 
asked  an  interview  with  reference  to  peace.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  elated,  and  the  kindness  of  his  heart  was  manifest  in 
intimations  of  favorable  terms  to  be  granted  to  the  con- 
quered Rebels. 

"Stanton  listened  in  silence,  restraining  his  emotion 
but  at  length  the  tide  burst  forth.  'Mr.  President,'  said 
he,  'to-morrow  is  inauguration  day.  If  you  are  not  to  be 
the  President  of  an  obedient  and  united  people,  you  had 
better  not  be  inaugurated.  Your  work  is  already  done, 
if  any  other  authority  than  yours  is  for  one  moment  to  be 
recognized,  or  any  terms  made  that  do  not  signify  you  are 
the  supreme  head  of  the  nation.  If  generals  in  the  field 
are  to  negotiate  peace,  or  any  other  chief  magistrate  is  to 
be  acknowledged  on  this  continent,  then  you  are  not 
needed,  and    you  had  better  not  take  the  oath  of  office.' 


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WAR    STORIES,  24I 

"'Stanton,  you  are  right!'  said  the  President,  his 
whole  tone  changing,  'Let  me  have  a  pen.' 

'  'Mr.  Linclon  sat  down  at  the  table,  and  wrote  as  fol- 
lows: 

' '  'The  President  directs  me  to  say  to  you  that  he  wishes 
you  to  have  no  conference  with  General  Lee,  unless  it  be 
for  the  capitulation  of  Lee's  army,  or  on  some  minor  or 
purely  military  matter.  He  instructs  me  to  say  that  you 
are  not  to  decide,  discuss,  or  confer  upon  any  political 
question.  Such  questions  the  President  holds  in  his  own 
hands,  and  will  submit  them  to  no  military  conferences 
or  conventions.  In  the  meantime  you  are  to  press  to  the 
utmost  your  military  advantages.' 

'  'The  President  read  over  what  he  had  written,  and 
then  said: 

'  'Now,  Stanton,  date  and  sign   this  paper,  and  send 
it  to  Grant,     We'll  see  about  this  peace  business.' 

'  'The  duty  was  discharged  only  too  gladly  by  the  ener- 
getic Secretary. 


■:o:- 


A 


/<T<f^~. 


MISCELLANEOUS  STORIE8,  ETC. 


Attending  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  Church. 

Mr.  Nelson  Sizer,  one  of  the  gallery  ushers  of  Henry 
Ward  Beecher's  church  in  Brooklyn,  told  a  friend  that 
about  the  time  of  the  Cooper  Institute  speech,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  twice  present  at  the  morning  services  of  that 
church.  On  the  first  occasion  he  was  accompanied  by 
his  friend,  George  B.  Lincoln,  Esq.,  and  occupied  a 
prominent  seat  in  the  center  of  the  house.  On  a  subse- 
quent Sunday  morning,  not  long  afterwards,  the  church 
was  packed,  as  usual,  and  the  services  had  proceeded  to 
the  announcement  of  the  text,  when  the  gallery  door  at 
the  right  of    the  organ-loft  opened,  and  the  tall  figure  of 

[243] 


244  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Mr.  Lincoln  entered,  alone.  Again  in  the  city  over  Sun- 
day, he  started  out  by  himself  to  find  the  church,  which 
he  reached  considerably  behind  time.  Every  seat  was 
occupied;  but  the  gentlemanly  usher  at  once  surrendered 
his  own,  and,  stepping  back,  became  much  interested  in 
watching  the  effect  of  the  sermon  upon  the  western  ora- 
tor. As  Mr.  Beecher  developed  his  line  of  argument, 
Mr.  Lincoln's  body  swayed  forward,  his  lips  parted,  and 
he  seemed  at  length  entirely  unconscious  of  his  surround- 
ings— frequently  giving  vent  to  his  satisfaction,  at  a  well- 
put  point  or  illustration,  with  a  kind  of  involuntary  In- 
dian exclamation — "ugh!" — not  audible  beyond  his  im- 
mediate presence,  but  very  expressive  !  Mr.  Lincoln 
henceforward  had  a  profound  admiration  for  the  talents 
of  the  famous  pastor  of  Plymouth  Church.  He  once  re- 
marked to  the  Rev.  Henry  M.  Field,  of  New  York,  that 
"he  thought  there  was  not  upon  record,  in  ancient  or 
modern  biography  so  productive  a  mind  as  had  been  ex- 
hibited in  the  career  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher  !" 


:o:- 


Lincoln's  Love  for  Little  Tad. 

No  matter  who  was  with  the  President,  or  how  intent- 
ly absorbed,  his  little  son  Tad  was  always  welcome.  He 
almost  always  accompanied  his  father.  Once  on  the 
way  to  Fortress  Monroe,  he  became  very  troublesome. 
The  President  was  much .  engaged  in  conversation  with 
the  party  who    accompanied  him,  and  he    at  length  said: 

"Tad,  if  you  will  be  a  good  boy,  and  not  disturb  me 
any  more  till  we  get  to  Fortress  Monroe,  I  will  give  you 
a  dollar. 

The  hope  of  reward  was  effectual  for  a  while  in  secur- 


MISCELLANEOUS.  245 

ing  silence,  but,  boy-like,  Tad  soon  forgot  his  promise, 
and  was  as  noisy  as  ever.  Upon  reaching  their  destina- 
tion, however,  he  said,  very  promptly,  "Father,  I  want 
my  dollar." 

Mr.  Lincoln  looked  at  him  half  reproachfully  for  an  in- 
stant, and  then  taking  from  his  pocket-book  a  dollar 
note,  he  said:  "Well,  my  son,  at  any  rate,  I  will  keep 
my  part  of  the  bargain." 

While  paying  a  visit  to  Commodore  Porter  of  Fortress 
Monroe,  on  one  occasion,  an  incident  occurred,  subse- 
quently related  by  Lieutenant  Braine,  one  of  the  officers 
on  board  the  flag-ship,  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ewer,  of  New 
York.  Noticing  that  the  banks  of  the  river  were  dotted 
with  spring  blossoms,  the  President  said,  with  the  man- 
ner of  one  asking  a  special  favor: 

"Commodore,  Tad  is  very  fond  of  flowers;  won't  you 
let  a  couple  of  your  men  take  a  boat  and  go  with  him 
for  an  hour  or  two  along  shore,  and  gather  a  few  ?  It 
will  be  a  great  gratification  to  him." 


-:o:- 


Lincoln  at  the  Five  Points'  House  of  Industry  in 

New  York. 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  visited  New  York  in  i860,  he  felt 
a  great  interest  in  many  of  the  institutions  for  reforming 
criminals  and  saving  the  young  from  a  life  of  crime. 
Among  others  he  visited,  unattended,  the  Five  Points 
House  of  Industry,  and  the  superintendent  of  the  Sab- 
bath-school there  gave  the  following  account  of  the 
event: 

"One  Sunday  morning  I  saw  a  tall,  remarkable-look- 
ing man  enter  the  room  and  take  a  seat  among  us.      He 


246  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

listened  with  fixed  attention  to  our  exercises,  and  his 
countenance  expressed  such  genuine  interest  that  I  ap- 
proached him  and  suggested  that  he  might  be  willing  to 
say  something  to  the  children.  He  accepted  the  invita- 
tion with  evident  pleasure,  arid  coming  forward  began  a 
simple  address,  which  at  once  fascinated  every  little 
hearer  and  hushed  the  room  into  silence.  His  language 
was  strikingly  beautiful,  and  his  tones  musical  with  in- 
intense  feeling.  The  little  faces  would  droop  into  sad 
conviction  as  he  uttered  sentences  of  warning,  and  would 
brighten  into  sunshine  as  he  spoke  cheerful  words  of 
promise.  Once  or  twice  he  attempted  to  close  his  re- 
marks, but  the  imperative  shout  of  'Go  on  !  Oh,  do  go 
on  !'  would  compel  him  to  resume. 

As  I  looked  upon  the  gaunt  and  sinewy  frame  of  the 
stranger,  and  marked  his  powerful  head  and  determined 
features,  now  touched  into  softness  by  the  impressions  of 
the  moment,  I  felt  an  irrepressible  curiosity  to  learn 
something  more  about  him,  and  while  he  was  quietly 
leaving  the  room  I  begged  to  know  his  name.  He 
courteously  replied:  'It  is  Abraham  Lincoln,  from 
Illinois.'" 


•:o: 


Lincoln  and  His  New  Hat. 

Mr.  G.  B.  Lincoln  tells  of  an  amusing  circumstance 
which  took  place  at  Springfield  soon  after  Mr.  Lincoln's 
nomination  in  i860.  A  hatter  in  Brooklyn  secretly  ob- 
tained the  size  of  the  future  President's  head,  and  made 
for  him  a  very  elegant  hat,  which  he  sent  by  his  towns- 
man, Lincoln,  to  Springfield.  About  the  time  it  was 
presented,  various   other  testimonials  of   a  similar   char- 


MISCELLANEOUS.  247 

character  had  come  in  from  different  sections.  Mr. 
Lincoln  took  the  hat,  and  after  admiring  its  texture  and 
workmanship,  put  it  on  his  head  and  walked  up  to  a  look- 
ing-glass. Glancing  from  the  reflection  to  Mrs.  Lincoln 
he    said,  with    a    peculiar  twinkle    of    his    eye,     "Well, 

wife,  there  is  one  thing  likely  to  come  out  of  this  scrape, 
any  how.      We  are  going  to  have  some  new  clothes  !" 


-:o:- 


Lincoln's  Failure  as  a  Merchant — He,  However, 
Six  Years  Later  Pays  the  "National  Debt." 

It  is  interesting  to  recall  the  fact  that  at  one  time  Mr. 
Lincoln  seriously  took  into  consideration  the  project  of 
learning  the  blacksmith's  trade.  He  was  without  means, 
and  felt  the  immediate  necessity  of  undertaking  some 
business  that  would  give  him  bread.  It  was  while  he  was 
entertaining  this  project  that  an  event  occurred  which  in 
his  undeterminded  state  of  mind  seemed  to  open  a  way 
to  success  in  another  quarter 

A  man  named  Reuben  Radford,  the  keeper  of  a  small 
store  in  the  village  of  New  Salem, had  somehow  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  the  Clary's  Grove  Boys,  who  had  exer- 
cised their  "regulating"  derogatives  by  irregularly  break- 
ing his  windows.  William  G.  Greene,  a  friend  of  young 
Lincoln,  riding  by  Radford's  store  soon  afterward,  was 
hailed  by  him,  and  told  that  he  intended  to  sell  out.  Mr. 
Greene  went  into  the  store,  and  looking  around  offered 
him  at  random  four  hundred  dollars  for  his  stock.  The 
offer  was  immediately  accepted. 

Lincoln  happening  in  the  next  day,  and  being  familiar 
with  the  value  of  the  goods,  Mr.  Greene  proposed  to  him 
to  take  an  inventory  of  the  stock,  and  see  what  sort  of  a 


248  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

bargain  he  had  made.  This  he  did,  and  it  was  found 
that  the  goods  were  worth  six  hundred  dollars.  Lincoln 
then  made  him  an  offer  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  dol- 
lars for  his  bargain,  with  the  proposition  that  he  and  a 
man  named  Berry,  as  his  partner,  should  take  his 
(Greene's)  place  in  the  notes  given  to  Radford.  Mr. 
Greene  agreed  to  the  arrangement,  but  Radford  declined 
it,  except  on  condition  that  Greene  would  be  their  se- 
curity, and  this  he  at  last  assented  to. 

Berry  proved  to  be  a  dissipated,  trifling  man,  and  the 
business  soon  became  a  wreck.  Mr.  Greene  was  obliged 
to  go  in  and  help  Lincoln  close  it  up,  and  not  only  do  this 
but  pay  Radford's  notes.  All  that  young  Lincoln  won 
from  the  store  was  some  very  valuable  experience,  and 
the  burden  of  a  debt  to  Greene  which,  in  conversations 
with  the  latter,  he  always  spoke  of  as  the  national  debt. 
But  this  national  debt,  unlike  the  majority  of  those  which 
bear  the  title,  was  paid  to  the  utmost  farthing  in  after 
years. 

Six  years  afterwards  Mr.  Greene,  who  knew  nothing  of 
the  law  in  such  cases,  and  had  not  troubled  himself  to 
inquire  about  it,  and  who  had  in  the  meantime  re- 
moved to  Tennessee,  received  notice  from  Mr.  Lincoln 
that  he  was  ready  to  pay  him  what  he  had  paid  for  Berry 
— he  (Lincoln)  being  legally  bound  to  pay  the  liabilities 
of  his  partner. 


-:o:- 


Lincoln's   Feat  at  the  Washington  Navy  Yard 

With  an  Axe. 

One  afternoon  during  the  summer  of    1862,  the  Presi- 
dent accompanied  several    gentlemen  to  the  Washington 


MISCELLANEOUS  S.  249 

Navy  Yard  to  witness  some  experiments  with  a  newly-in- 
vented gun.  Subsequently  the  party  went  aboard  of  one 
of  the  steamers  lying  at  the  wharf.  A  discussion  was 
going  on  as  to  the  merits  of  the  invention,  in  the  midst 
of  which  Mr.  Lincoln  caught  sight  of  some  axes  hanging 
up  outside  of  the  cabin.  Leaving  the  group,  he  quietly 
went  forward,  and  taking  one  down,  returned  with  it, 
and  said: 

"Gentlemen,  you  may  talk  about  your  'Raphael  re- 
peaters' and  'eleven-inch  Dahlgrens,' but  here  is  an  in- 
stitution which  I  guess  I  understand  better  than  either  of 
you. "  With  that  he  held  the  axe  out  at  arm's  length  by 
the  end  of  the  handle,  or  "helve,"  as  the  wood-cutters 
call  it — a  feat  not  another  person  iu  the  party  could  per- 
form, though  all  made  the  attempt. 

In  such  acts  as  this,  showing  that  he  neither  forgot 
nor  was  ashamed  of  his  humble  origin,  the  good  Presi- 
dent exhibited  his  true  nobility  of  character.  He  was  a 
perfect  illustration  of  his  favorite  poet's  words: 

"The  rank  is  but  the  guinea's  stamp, 
The  man's  the  gold,  for  a'  that  I" 


:o:- 


An  Amusing  Illustration. 

One  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  illustrations  given  by  him  on  one 
occasion  was  that  of  a  man  who,  in  driving  the  hoops  of  a 
hogshead  to  "head"  it  up,  was  much  annoyed  by  the  con- 
stant falling  in  of  the  top.  At  length  the  bright  idea  struck 
him  of  putting  his  little  boy  inside  to  "hold  it  up."  This 
he  did;  it  never  occurring  to  him  till  the  job  was  done, 
how  he  was  to  get  his  child  out,  "This,"  said  Lincoln, 
"is  a  fair  sample  of  the  way  some  people  always  do  busi- 


ness." 


Lincoln's  father's  monument,  near  rockport,  ind. 

[250] 


MISCELLANEOUS.  25 1 

Funeral  Services  of  Lincoln's  Mother. — The  Old 
Pastor  and  Young  Abraham. 

Several  months  after  the  death  of  Lincoln's  mother, 
which  occurred  when  he  was  but  a  few  years  old,  child  as 
he  was,  he  wrote  to  Parson  Elkin  who  had  been  their 
pastor  when  residing  in  Kentucky,  begging  him  to  come 
to  Indiana  and  preach  her  funeral  sermon. 

This  was  asking  a  great  favor  of  their  former  minister, 
for  it  would  require  him  to  ride  on  horseback  a  hundred 
miles  through  the  wilderness;  and  it  is  something  to  be 
remembered  to  the  humble  itinerant's  honor  that  he  was 
willing  to  pay  this  tribute  of  respect  to  the  woman  who 
had  so  thoroughly  honored  him  and  his  sacred  office.  He 
replied  to  Abraham's  invitation  that  he  would  preach  the 
sermon  on  a  certain  future  Sunday,  and  gave  him  liberty 
to  notify  the  neighbors  of  the  promised  service. 

As  the  appointed  day  approached  notice  was  given  to 
the  whole  neighborhood,  embracing  every  family  within 
twenty  miles.  Neighbor  carried  the  notice  to  neighbor. 
It  was  scattered  from  every  little  school.  There  was 
probably  not  a  family  that  did  not  receive  intelligence  of 
the  anxiously-anticipated  event. 

On  a  bright  Sabbath  morning  the  settlers  of  the  region 
started  for  the  cabin  of  the  Lincolns,  and  as  they  gathered 
in  they  presented  a  picture  worthy  the  pencil  of  the 
worthiest  painter.  Some  came  in  carts  of  the  rudest  con- 
struction, their  wheels  consisting  of  sections  of  the  huge 
boles  of  forest  trees,  and  every  other  member  the  product 
of  the  axe  and  auger:  some  came  on  horseback,  two  or 
three  upon  a  horse;  others  came  in  wagons  drawn  by 
oxen,  and  still  others  came  on  foot.  Two  hundred  per- 
sons in  all  were  assembled  when  Parson  Elkin  came  out 


252  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

from  the  Lincoln  cabin,  accompanied  by  the  little  family, 
and  proceeded  to  a  tree  under  which  the  precious  dust  of 
a  wife  and  mother  were  buried. 

The  congregation,  seated  upon  stumps  and  logs  around 
the  grave,  received  the  preacher  and  the  mourning  family 
in  silence,  broken  only  by  the  songs  of  birds,  and  the 
murmur  of    insects,  or   the  creaking  cart    of  some    late 

comer.  Taking  his  stand  at  the  foot  of  the  grave,  Par- 
son Elkin  lifted  his  voice  in  prayer  and  sacred  song,  and 
then  preached  a  sermon. 

The  occasion,  the  eager  faces  around  him,  and  all  the 
sweet  influences  of  the  morning,  inspired  him  with  an 
unusual  fluency  and  fervor;  and  the  flickering  sunlight,  as 
it  glanced  through  the  wind-parted  leaves,  caught  many 
a  tear  upon  the  bronzed  cheeks  of  his  auditors,  while 
father  and  son  were  overcome  by  the  revival  of  their 
great  grief.  He  spoke  of  the  precious  Christian  woman 
who  had  gone  with  the  warm  praise  which  she  deserved, 
aud  held  her  up  as  an  example  to  true  womanhood. 

Those  who  knew  the  tender  and  reverent  spirit  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  later  in  life,  will  not  doubt  that  he  re- 
turned to  his  cabin-home  deeply  impressed  by  all  that 
he  had  heard.  It  was  the  rounding  up  for  him  of  the  in- 
fluences of  a  Christian  mother's  life  and  teachings.  It 
recalled  her  sweet  and  patient  example,  her  assiduous 
efforts  to  inspire  him  with  pure  and  noble  motives,  her 
simple  instructions  in  divine  truth,  her  devoted  love  for 
him,  and  the  motherly  offices  she  had  rendered  him  dur- 
ing all  his  tender  years.  His  character  was  planted  in 
this  Christian  mother's  life.  Its  roots  were  fed  by  this 
Christian  mother's  love:  and  those  that  have  wondered  at 
the  truthfulness  and  earnestness  of  his  mature  character 


MISCELLANEOUS.  253 

have  only  to  remember  that  the  tree  was  true  to  the  soil 
from  which  it  sprung. 

Not  many  years  ago  a  monument  was  raised  over  Mrs. 
Nancy  Lincoln's  grave,  and  also  over  the  grave  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln's  father,  near  Rockport,  Ind. 


:o: 


Something  Concerning  Mr.  Lincoln  "s  Religious 

Views. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Willets,  of  Brooklyn,  gives  an  account 
of  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  the  part  of  a  lady 
of  his  acquaintance,  connected  with  the  "Christian  Com- 
mission,", who  in  the  prosecution  of  her  duties  had  sev- 
eral interviews  with  him. 

The  President,  it  seemed,  had  been  much  impressed 
with  the  devotion  and  earnestness  of  purpose  manifested 
by  the  lady,  and  on  one  occasion,  after  she  had  dis- 
charged the  object  of  her  visit,  he  said  to  her: 

"Mrs.  ,    I  have  formed  a  high   opinion  of  your 

Christian  character,  and  now,  as  we  are  alone,  I  have 
a  mind  to  ask  you  to  give  me,  in  brief,  your  idea  of  what 
constitutes  a  true  religious  experience." 

The  lady  replied  at  some  length,  stating  that,  in  her 
judgment,  it  consisted  of  a  conviction  of  one's  own  sin- 
fulness and  weakness,  and  personal  need  of  the  Saviour 
for  strength  and  support;  that  views  of  mere  doctrine 
might  and  would  differ,  but  when  one  was  really  brought 
to  feel  his  need  of  Divine  help,  and  to  seek  the  aid  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  for  strength  and  guidance,  it  was  satisfactory 
evidence  of  his  having  been  born  again .  This  was  the 
substance  of  her  reply. 

When  she  had  concluded  Mr.  Lincoln  was  very  thought- 


254  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

ful  for  a  few  moments;  He  at  length  said,  very  earnest- 
ly: "If  what  you  have  told  me  is  really  a  correct  view 
of  this  great  subject,  I  think  I  can  say  with  sincerity  that 
I  hope  I  am  a  Christian.  I  had  lived,"  he  continued, 
"until  my  boy  Willie  died,  without  realizing  fully  these 
things.  That  blow  overwhelmed  me.  It  showed  me  my 
weakness  as  I  had  never  felt  it  before,  and  if  I  can  take 
what  you  have  stated  as  a  test,  I  think  I  can  safely  say 
that  I  know  something  of  that  change  of  which  you  speak; 
and  I  will  further  add,  that  it  has  been  my  intention  for 
some  time,  at  a  suitable  opportunity,  to  make  a  public 
religious  profession." 


:o:- 


Thurlow  Weed's  Recollections. 

In  a  letter  to  the  New  York  Lincoln  Club,  Thurlow 
Weed  remarked;  I  went  to  the  Whig  National  Conven- 
tion, at  Chicago,  in  i860,  warmly  in  favor  of  and  con- 
fidently expecting  the  nomination  of  Governor  Seward. 
That  disappointment  of  long-cherished  hopes  was  a  bitter 
one.  I  then  accepted,  very  reluctantly,  an  invitation  to 
visit  Mr.  Lincoln  at  his  residence  in  Springfield,  where, 
in  an  interesting  conversation,  even  while  smarting  under 
the  sense  of  injustice  to  Mr.  Seward,  confidence  in  Mr. 
Lincoln's  good  sense,  capacity  and  fidelity  was  inspired. 

A  campaign  programme  was  agreed  upon,  and,  return- 
ing to  Albany,  I  went  to  work  as  zealously  and  as  cheer- 
fully as  I  should  have  done  with  Mr.  Seward  as  our 
Presidential  nominee.  Mr.  Lincoln's  inauguration  simul- 
taneously inaugurated  rebellion.  Events  soon  proved 
that  the  Chicago  Convention  had  been  wisely  if  not  provi- 
dentially guided,      The  country  in  its  greatest  emergency 


MISCELLANEOUS.  255 

had,  what  it  so  greatly  needed,  the  services  of  two,  in- 
stead of  one,  of  its  greatest  and  best  men.  With  Lin- 
coln as  President  and  Seward  as  Secretary  of  State,  the 
right  men  were  in  the  right  places. 

With  ample  opportunities  to  study  the  character  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  I  never  hesitated  in  declaring  that  his 
sense  of  public  and  private  duty  and  honor  was  as  high 
and  his  patriotism  as  devoted  as  that  of  George  Wash- 
ington. 

Their  names  and  their  memories  should  descend  to 
future  generations  as  examples  worthy  of  imitation. 


■:o:- 


How  Lincoln  Took  His  Altitude — A  Prophetic 

Bowl  of  Milk. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  nomination  for  the  Presi- 
dency, the  Executive  Chamber,  a  large  fine  room  in  the 
State  House  at  Springfield  was  set  apart  for  him,  where 
he  met  the  public  until  after  his  election. 

As  illustrative  of  the  nature  of  many  of  his  calls,  the 
following  brace  of  incidents  were  related  to  Mr.  Holland 
by  an  eye  witness:  "Mr.  Lincoln,  being  in  conversa- 
tion with  a  gentleman  one  day,  two  raw,  plainly-dressed 
young  'Suckers'  entered  the  room,  and  bashfully  lingered 
near  the  door,  As  soon  as  he  observed  them,  and  ap- 
prehended their  embarrassment,  he  rose  and  walked  to 
them,  saying,  "How  do  you  do,  my  good  fellows  ?  What 
can  I  do  for  you  ?     Will  you  sit  down  ?"  The  spokes- 

man of  the  pair,  the  shorter  of  the  two,  declined  to  sit, 
and  explained  the  object  of  the  call  thus:  he  had  had  a 
talk  about  the  relative  height  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  com- 
panion, and  had  asserted  his  belief  that  they  were  of  ex- 


256  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

actly  the  same  height.  He  had  come  in  to  verify  his 
judgment.  Mr.  Lincoln  smiled,  went  and  got  his  cane, 
and,  placing  the  end  of  it  upon  the  wall,  said: 

"Here,  yonng  man,  come  under  here. " 

The  young  man  came  under  the  cane,  as  Mr.  Lincoln 
held  it,  and  when  it  was  perfectly  adjusted  to  his  height, 
Mr.  Lincoln  said: 

"Now,  come  out,  and  hold  up  the  cane." 

This  he  did  while  Mr.  Lincoln  stepped  under.  Rubbing 
his  head  back  and  forth  to  see  that  it  worked  easily  under 
the  measurement,  he  stepped  out,  and  declared  to  the 
sagacious  fellow  who  was  curiously  looking  on,  that  he 
had  guessed  with  remarkable  accuracy — that  he  and  the 
young  man  were  exactly  the  same  height.  Then  he  shook 
hands  with  them  and  sent  them  on  their  way.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln would  just  as  soon  have  thought  of  cutting  off  his 
right  hand  as  he  would  have  thought  of  turning  those 
boys  away  with  the  impression  that  they  had  in  any  way 
insulted  his  dignity. 

They  had  hardly  disappeared  when  an  old  and  modest- 
ly dressed  woman  made  her  appearance.  She  knew  Mr. 
Lincoln,  but  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  at  first  recognize  her. 
Then  she  undertook  to  recall  to  his  memory  certain  inci- 
dents connected  with  his  rides  upon  the  circuit — especial- 
ly his  dining  at  her  house  upon  the  road  at  different 
times.  Then  he  remembered  her  and  her  home.  Hav- 
ing fixed  her  own  place  in  his  recollection,  she  tried  to  re- 
call to  him  a  certain  scanty  dinner  of  bread  and  milk 
that  he  once  ate  at  her  house.  He  could  not  remember 
it — on  the  contrary,  he  only  remembered  that  he  had  al- 
ways fared  well  at  her  house. 

"Well,"  said  she,  one  day  you  came  along  after  we  had 


MISCELLANEOUS.  2  57 

got  through  dinner,  and  we  had  eaten  up  everything,  and 
I  could  give  you  nothing  but  a  bowl  of  bread  and  milk 
and  you  ate  it;  and  when  you  got  up  you  said  it  was  good 
enough  for  the  President  of  the  United  States  !" 

The  good  woman  had  come  in  from  the  country,  mak- 
ing a  journey  of  eight  or  ten  miles,  to  relate  to  Mr.  Lin- 
coln this  incident,  which,  in  her  mind,  had  doubtless 
taken  the  form  of  prophecy.  Mr.  Lincoln  placed  the 
honest  creature  at  her  ease,  chatted  with  her  of  old 
times,  and  dismissed  her  in  the  most  happy  and  com- 
placent frame  of  mind. 


-:o:- 


How  Lincoln  Won  the  Nomination  for 

Congress. 

Old-time  politicians,  says  a  correspondent,  will  read- 
ily recall  the  heated  political  campaign  of  1843  in  the 
neighboring  State  of  Illinois. 

The  chief  interest  of  the  campaign  lay  in  the  race  for 
Congress  in  the  Capital  district,  which  was  between  Har- 
din— fiery,  eloquent  and  impetuous  Democrat,  and  Lin- 
coln— plain,  practical  and  ennobled  Whig.  The  world 
knows  the  result.      Lincoln  was  elected. 

It  is  not  so  much  with  his  election  as  with  the  manner 
in  which  he  secured  his  nomination  with  which  we  have 
to  deal.  Before  that  ever- memorable  spring  Lincoln  vac- 
ilated  between  the  courts  of  Springfield,  rated  as  a  plain, 
honest,  logical  Whig,  with  no  ambition  higher  politically 
than  to  occupy  some  good  home  office.  Late  in  the  fall 
1842  his  name  began  to  be  mentioned  in  connection  with 
Congressional  aspirations,  which  fact  greatly  annoyed  the 
leaders  of  his  political  party,  who  had  already  selected  as 


z$8  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

the  whig  candidate,  one  Baker,  afterward  the  gallant  Col- 
onel who  fell  so  bravely  and  died  such  an  honorable  death 
on  the  battlefield  of  Ball's  Bluff  in  1842.  Despite  all  ef- 
forts of  his  opponents  within  his  party  the  name  of  the 
"gaunt    rail-splitter"   was   hailed   with    acclaim    by  the 


TRIUMPHAL    ARCH. 


masses,  to  whom  he  had  endeared  himself  by  his  witti- 
cisms, honest  tongue  and  quaint  philosophy  when  on  the 
stump  or  mingling  with  them  in  their  homes. 

The   convention,  Which  met  in  early  spring  in  the  city 
of  Springfield,  was  to  be  composed  of  the  usual  number  of 


MISCELLANEOUS.  259 

delegates.      The  contest  for  the  nomination  was  spirited 
and  exciting. 

A  few  weeks  before  the  meeting  of  the  convention  the 
fact  was  found  by  the  leaders  that  the  advantage  lay  with 
Lincoln,  and  that  unless  they  pulled  some  very  fine  wires 
nothing  could  save  Baker. 

They  attempted  to  play  the  game  that  has  so  often 
won,  by  "convincing"  delegates  under  instructions  for 
Lincoln  to  violate  them  and  vote  for  Baker.  They  had 
apparently  succeeded. 

"The  plans  of  mice  and  men  aft  gang  aglee;"  so  it  was 
in  this  case.  Two  days  before  the  convention  Lincoln 
received  an  intimation  of  this,  and  late  at  night  indited 
the  following  letter. 

The  letter  was  addressed  to  Martin  Morris,  who  resides 
at  Petersburg,  an  intimate  friend  of  his,  and  by  him  cir- 
culated among  those  who  were  instructed  for  him  at  the 
county  convention. 

It  had  the  desired  effect.  The  convention  met,  the 
scheme  of  the  conspiritors  miscarried,  Lincoln  was  nom- 
inated, made  a  vigorous  canvass,  and  was  triumphantly 
elected,  thus  paving  the  way  for  his  more  extended  and 
brilliant  conquests. 

This  letter,  Lincoln  has  often  told  his  friends,  gave 
him  ultimately  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  the  nation.  He 
has  also  said  that  had  he  been  beaten  before  the 
convention  he  would  have  been  forever  obscured.  The 
following  is  a  verbatim  copy  of  the  epistle: 

"April  14,  1843. 

Friend  Morris:  I  have  heard  it  intimated  that  Baker 
is  trying  to  get  you  or  Miles,  or  both  of  you,  to  violate 
the  instructions  of  the  meeting  that  appointed   you,   and 


26o  LINCOLN'     STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

to  go  for  him.      I  have  insisted,  and  still  insist,   that  this 
cannot  be  true. 

Surely  Baker  would  not  do  the  like.  As  well  might 
Hardin  ask  me  to  vote  for  him  in  the  convention. 

Again,  it  is  said  there  will  be  an  attempt  to  get  up  in- 
structions in  your  county  requiring  you  to  go  for  Baker. 
This  is  all  wrong.  Upon  the  same  rule  why  might  I  not 
fly  from  the  decision  against  me  in  Sangamon  and  get  up 
instructions  to  their  delegates  to  go  for  me.  There  are 
at  least  1,200  Whigs  in  the  county  that  took  no  part,  and 
yet  I  would  as  soon  stick  my  head  in  the  fire  as  to  at- 
tempt it. 

Besides,  if  any  one  should  get  the  nomination  by  such 
extraordinary  means,  all  harmony  in  the  district  would 
inevitably  be  lost.  Honest  Whigs  (and  very  nearly  all 
of  them  are  honest),  would  not  quietly  abide  such  enor- 
mities. 

I   repeat,    such  an  attempt  on  Baker's  part  cannot  be 

true.     Write  me  at  Springfield  how  the  matter  is.   Don't 

show  or  speak  of  this  letter. 

A.  Lincoln." 

Mr.  Morris  did  show  the  letter,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  always 
thanked  his  stars  that  he  did. 


■:o:- 


Old  Relics. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  an  autograph  letter  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  which  was  received  by  Capt.  A.  H.  Par- 
ker, President  of  the  Englewood  Soldiers'  Memorial  As- 
sociation, from  W.  H.  Herndon,  former  law  partner  of 
President  Lincoln. 


MISCELLANEOUS.  26 1 

Springfield,  III.,  Oct.  10,  i860. 
Dear  William:     I  cannot  give  you  details,  but  it  is  en- 
tirely certain  that  Pennsylvania  and    Indiana   have  gone 
Republican  very  largely.      Penn.  25,000,  &  la.  5  to  10,- 
000.      Ohio  of  course  is  safe. 

Yours  as  ever,  A.  Lincoln, 

Accampanying  the  above  is  a  leaf  from  Mr.  Lincoln's 
boy  copy-book.  The  two  relics  are  explained  in  full  by 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Herndon  to  Capt.  Parker,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  copy: 

Springfield,  III.,  Nov.  9,  1881. 
Mr.  Parker — My  Dear  Sir:    Enclosed  is  a  genuine  let- 


[The  original  Fort  Dearborn,  as  built  in  1804.] 

ter  from  Lincoln,  addressed  to  myself,  dated  the  iothday 
of  October,  i860,  a  few  days  before  Mr.  Lincoln's  elec* 
tion  to  the  Presidency. 

The  history  of  the  letter  is  as  follows: 

I  was  in  Petersburg  on  the  day  the  letter  is  dated,  and 
in  the  evening,  say  at  7  o'clock,  I  was  speaking  to  a  large 


262  Lincoln's  stories     speeches. 

audience  in  the  court-house  urging  Lincoln's  election.  I 
had  spoken  about  thirty  minutes  when  a  runner  handed 
me  a  letter,  and  I  opened  it  in  dead  silence,  thinking  pos- 
sibly that  bad  news  had  come  to  me,  possibly  Lincoln's 
defeat. 

However,  the  dead  silence  was  soon  broken  by  the 
reading  of  the  letter,  first  to  myself  and  then  aloud,  as 
loud  as  I  could,  and  then  there  went  up  such  yells,  huz- 
zas, such  noise,  such  banging  and  thumping  as  were 
never  heard  in  that  house  of  justice  before.  The  joy  of 
the  crowd,  the  noise  of  the  yells,  etc.,  were  more  eloquent 
than  I  was,  and  I  got  off  the  stand  and  quit  my  jabber 
in  the  presence  of  the  general  joy. 

When  Lincoln  wrote  the  letter  he  knew  that  he  was 
elected  to  the  Presidential  chair.  He  must  have  been 
grateful  to  the  people  and  happy.  I  can  see  his  feelings 
in  his  handwriting;  he  trembled  a  little,  was  full  of  emo- 
tion, joy  and  happiness. 

I  hate  to  part  with  this  letter.  It  is  the  last  one  I  have, 
and  no  money  could  get  it.  I  willingly  give  it  to  you  for 
the  purposes  it  is  given — namely:  to  the  Soldiers'  Memo- 
rial Association  of  Englewood,  111.,  and  its  uses,  etc., 
etc.  To  me  there  is  a  long  history  in  the  letter  and  its 
glorious  recollections. 

Again,  I  send  you  a  leaf  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  boy  copy- 
book— a  book  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  put  down  his  arith- 
metical sums  worked  out. 

I  was  collecting  the  facts  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  in  1 865- 
6  and  went  into  Coles  County,  Illinois,  to  see  his  step- 
mother; found  the  motherly,  good  old  lady,  and  took 
down    the   testimony,    etc.,    as    material  of  his  life,  etc. 


MISCELLANEOUS.  263 

During  her  examination  she  let  drop  in  her  conversation 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Lincoln  when  a  boy  had  two  copybooks 
in  which  he  set  down  the  sums  worked  out,  and  wrote 
out  in  his  literary  one  what  seemed  strong,  beautiful  or 
good.  We,  the  Lincoln  family  and  myself,  commenced 
the  search  and  found  the  arithmetical  book,  but  not  the 
other;  it  is  gone,  and  gone  forever. 

I  willingly  send  you  a  leaf  of  said  copybook  for  the 
uses  and  purposes  above,  and  for  no  other.  I  say  this  of 
the  letter  and  the  leaf.  I  would  not  spare  them  under 
any  other  consideration.  God  bless  the  soldier  and  his 
friends. 

To  keep  the  pieces,  get  two  glasses  and  put  the  letter 
between  them;  have  it  framed,  and  the  letter  thus  framed 
will  last  for  ages  hung  on  the  wall. 

To  keep  the  leaf  and  letter,  get  two  glasses,  say  6x7 
inches  for  the  latter,  and  10x12  for  the  leaf — clean  and 
clear  glass  like  perfect  window  glass — put  the  paper  and 
the  leaf  between  the  two  glasses,  hang  up  in  the  hall,  and 
it  will  last  for  ages;  keep  a  watch  out  that  too  much 
light  does  not  exhaust  the  ink;  dry  it  out  or  up,  etc. 

Hurriedly  your  friend, 

W.  H.  Hernbdn. 


.0:- 


How  Lincoln  Won  a  Case  from   his  Partner — 
Laughable  Toilet  Ignorance. 

While  Judge  Logan,  of  Springfield,  111.,  was  Lincoln's 
partner,  two  farmers,  who  had  a  misunderstanding 
respecting  a  horse  trade,  went  to  law.  By  mutual  con- 
sent the  partners  in  law  became  antagonists  in  this  case 
On  the  day  of  the  trial  Mr.  Logan,  having  bought  a  new 


264 


Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 


shirt,  open  in  the  back,  with  a  huge  standing  collar, 
dressed  himself  in  extreme  haste,  and  put  on  the  shirt 
with  the  bosom  at  the  back,  a  linen  coat  concealing  the 
blunder.  He  dazed  the  jury  with  his  knowledge  of 
"horse  points"  and  as  the  day  was  sultry,  took  off  his 
coat  and  summed  up  in  his  shirt -sleeves. 

Lincoln,  sitting  behind  him,  took  in  the  situation,  and 
when  his  turn  came,  remarked  to  the  jury: 

"Gentlemen,  Mr.  Logan  has  been  trying  for  over  an 
hour  to  make  you  believe  he  knows  more  about  a  horse 
than  these  honest  old  farmers  who    are  witnesses.     He 


has  quoted  largely  from  his  'horse  doctor,'  and  now, 
gentlemen,  I  submit  to  you,  (here  he  lifted  Logan  out  of 
his  chair,  and  turned  him  with  his  back  to  the  jury  and 
the  crowd,  at  the  same  time  flipping  up  the  enormous 
standing  collar)  what  dependence  can  you  place  in  his 
horse  knowledge  when  he  has  not  sense  enough  to  put 
on  his  shirt?" 

The  roars  of  laughter  tnat  greeted  this  exhibition,  and 
the  verdict  that  Lincoln  got  soon  after,  gave  Logan  a 
permanent  prejudice  against  "bosom  shirts." 

:o: 


MISCELLANEOUS.  265 

Lincoln's    Life    as    Written    by   Himself — The 
Whole  Thing  in  a  Nut  Shell. 

The  compiler  of  the  "Dictionary  of  Congress"  states 
that  while  preparing  the  work  for  publication  in  1858,  he 
sent  to  Mr.  Lincoln  the  usual  request  for  a  sketch  of  his 
life,    and  received  the  following  reply: 

Born  February  12,  1809,  in  Hardin,  County,  Ken- 
tucky." 

"Education  Defective."  "Profession  a  Lawyer." 
"Have  been  a  Captain  of  Volunteers  in  Black  Hawk 
War."  "Postmaster  at  a  very  small  office."  "Four 
times  a  member  of  the  Illinois  Legislature,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  Lower  House  of  Congress. 

Yours,  etc., 

"A.   Lincoln." 


■:o:- 


Lincoln  as  a  Lover. 


A  writer  to  the  Springfield  Republican  gives  the  fol- 
lowing exceedingly  interesting  account  of  the  early  loves 
of  Abraham  Lincoln: 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Lincoln  at  the  home  of  that  sister 


266  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

where  she  was  first  met  and  courted  by   her  future  hus- 
band, closes  the  family  life  of  the  great  President. 

She  was  not  his  first  or  his  deepest  love.  That  dis- 
tinction belongs  to  Ann  Rutledge,  whose  father  was  the 
founder  of  New  Salem,  on  the  Sangamon,  a  village 
which  is  now  deserted. 

Rutledge  was  one  of  the  famous  South  Carolina  fami- 
lies, and  his  daughter,  four  years  younger  than  Lincoln, 
seems  to  have  impressed  the  whole  community  as  a  love- 
ly and  refined  girl,  unaffected,  "a  blonde  in  complexion, 
with  golden  hair,  cherry-red  lips,  and  a  bonny  blue  eye," 
says  McNamara. 

McNamara  was  the  lover  who  first  won  her  heart.  He 
went  to  New  York  to  take  West  his  parents,  but  was  de- 
tained some  years  in  New  York.  In  the  meantime  Lin- 
coln pressed  his  suit,  and  the  girl's  parents  doubted 
whether  McNamara  would  ever  come  back;  she  gave  her 
love  to  Lincoln,  but  insisted  on  waiting  for  a  formal  re- 
lease from  McNamara  before  marriage.  The  waiting 
told  upon  her  sensitive  organism,  her  health  declined, 
and  she  died  of  what  was  called  brain  fever  on  August 
25,  1835. 

This  was  the  great  grief  of  Lincoln's  youth.  His  rea- 
son was  unsettled  and  his  friend,  Bowlin  Greene,  had  to 
take  him  off  to  a  lonely  log  cabin  and  keep  him  until  he 
recovered  his  sanity.  Then  was  when  he  learned  the 
poem  beginning: 

"Oh,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud?" 

An  old  friend  who  asked  him  after  his  election  to  the 
Presidency  if  it  was  true  that  he  loved  and  courted  Ann 
Rutledge,  got  this  reply: 

"It  is  true  — true;  indeed  I  did.    I  have  loved  the  name 


MISCELLANEOUS.  267 

of  Rutledge  to  this  day.  It  was  my  first .  I  loved  the 
woman  dearly.  She  was  a  handsome  girl;  would  have 
made  a  good,  loving  wife;  was  natural  and  quite  intel- 
lectual, though  not  highly  educated.  I  did  honestly  and 
truly  love  the  girl,  and  think  often,  often  of  her  now." 

McNamara  returned  soon  after  her  death,  lived  near 
the  little  .burying  ground,  and  in  1866  pointed  out  the 
grave  of  Ann  Rutledge  to  Mr.  Herndon.  This  affair  had 
a  marked  effect  upon  Lincoln's  life,  and  added  to  its 
somber  tone;  but  it  probably  had  also  a  deeper  meaning 
in  purifying  and  ennobling  his  inner  nature 


Mr.  Lincoln,  who  by  this  time  was  a  member  of  the 
legislature,  and  about  27,  next  "paid  attentions"  to  a 
Miss  Owens,  a  smart  young  woman  of  some  avoirdu- 
pois, who  once  told  him  that  she  thought  he  was  "lack- 
ing in  the  smaller  attentions,  those  little  links  which 
made  up  the  great  chain  of  woman's  happiness,"  because 
he  dangled  along  by  her  side  once  when  they  were  going 
up  a  hill,  and  allowed  her  friend,  Mrs.  Bowlin  Greene, 
to  "carry  a  big,  fat  child,  and  crossly  disposed,"  up  the 
hill. 

A  still  more  untoward  incident  happened  once  at  Mrs. 
Abie's,  a  sister  of  Miss  Owens.  Lincoln  had  sent  word 
to  Abie's  that  he  was  coming  down  to  see  Miss  Owens. 
She,  girl  fashion,  to  test  her  lover,    went   off    "to    Gra- 


268  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

ham's,"  about  a  mile  and  a  half.  When  Lincoln  came 
and  was  so  informed,  he  asked  if  Miss  Owens  did  not 
know  he  was  coming. 

Mrs.  Able  said  no,  but  one  of  her  enf antes  terribles 
promptly  replied: 

"Yes,   ma,  she  did,  for  I  heard  Sam  tell  her  so." 

'  'Lincoln  sat  awhile  and  then  went  about  his  busi- 
ness," says  Lamon's  account.  Letters  exist  from  Lin- 
coln to  Miss  Owens  in  1836  and  1839,  in  one  of  which 
he  says: 

"If  you  feel  yourself  in  any  degree  bound  to  me,  I  am 
now  willing  to  release  you,  provided  you  wish  it;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  I  am  willing  and  even  anxious  to  bind 
you  faster,  if  I  can  be  convinced  that  it  will,  in  any  con- 
siderable degree,  add  to  your  happiness.  Nothing  would 
make  me  more  miserable  than  to  believe  you  miserable 
— nothing  more  happy  than  to  know  you  were  so. " 

This  is  the  language  of  an  honorable  man,  a  cool  lover, 
and  a  practiced  hand  in  the  English  language.  Miss 
Owens  lived  to  marry  another  man  at  her  home  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  have  two  sons  in  the  rebel  army. 

Lamon  prints  also  a  letter  of  Lincoln  to  Mrs.  O.  H. 
Browning,  in  1838,  reviewing  this  affair  in  terms,  it  must 
be  confessed,  brutally  derogatory  to  the  young  wo- 
man's personal  appearance  and  parts.  Lamon  speaks 
of  its  defective  spelling,  but  there  are  only  one  or  two 
misspelled  words  in  it,  and  these,  likely  enough,  by  acci- 
dent. Lincoln  was  evidently  mortified  by  his  rejection 
and  ignobly  attempted  to  represent  to  Mrs.  Browning 
(the  wife  of  his  new-found  legislative  friend),  that  the  ob- 
ject of  his  affections  had  been  unworthy  of  them. 

It  was  not  two  years  (1839)  before  another  Springfield 


MISCELLANEOUS.  269 

matron,  Mrs  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  had  a  Kentucky  sister 
to  live  with  her,  Mary  Todd,  daughter  of  Robert  S. 
Todd,  of  Lexington.  Miss  Todd  was  of  distinguished 
family  in  both  States,  her  mother  had  died  young,  and 
she  had  been  educated  by  "a  French  lady."  She  had  a 
keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous,  was  sharp,  ambitious,  high- 
tempered;  according  to  Lamon,  "high-bred,  proud,  bril- 
liant, witty,  and  with  a  will  that  bent  everyone  else  to 
her  purpose,  she  took  Lincoln  captive  the  moment  she 
considered  it  expedient  to  do  so. 


She  was  ambitious  to  be  the  wife  of  a  president,  and 
was  courted  by  Douglas  until  she  dismissed  him  for  his 
bad  morals.  She  said  of  one  of  her  mates  who  had  mar- 
ried a  wealthy  old  gentleman,  "I  would  rather  marry  a 
good  man,  a  man  of  mind,  with  hope  and  bright  pros- 
pects ahead  for  position,  fame  and  power,  than  to  marry 
all  the  horses,  gold  and  bones  in  the  world." 

Lincoln  and  Miss  Todd  became  engaged,  though  a 
pretty  sister  of  Edwards,  came  near  shipwrecking  this 
match. 

Pretty  girls  must  have  been  distressingly  thick  in  those 
days,  when  Kentucky  was  sending  her  best  blood  into  II- 


270  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

linois.  Lincoln  felt  the  Edwards  attachment  so  strongly 
that  he  begged  to  be  released  by  Miss  Todd  (the  Edwards 
girl  married  another  man,  for  Lincoln  never  mentioned 
it  to  her),  and  he  "ran  off  the  track"  again,  to  use  the 
expression  by  which  he  once  described  his  attack  of  in- 
sanity. 

He  was  '  'crazy  as  a  loon"  for  nearly  a  year,  and  did 
not  attend  the  session  of  the  legislature  of  1841-42,  to 
which  he  had  been  chosen.  They  had  to  keep  knives 
and  razors  away  from  him.  As  he  came  out  of  it,  the 
Edwards'  advised  Abe  and  Mary  not  to  marry,  as  they 
were  unfitted  to  each  other,  and  probably  in  consequence 
of  that  advice  they — went  and  married  on  '  'one  or  two 
hours'  notice." 

Lincoln  said  to  Matheney,  who  made  out  the 
license,  "Jim,  I  shall  have  to  marry  that  girl,"  and  he 
"looked  as  if  he  was  going  to  the  slaughter,"  and  said  he 
was  '  'driven  into  it"  by  the  Edwards  family.  But,  per- 
haps, these  expressions  ought  not  to  be  taken  too  ser- 
iously. 

Lamon  prints  letters  from  Lincoln  to  Speed  earlier  in 
the  year,  indicating  his  embarrassing  position,  and  his 
"great  agony,"  as  Lamon  calls  it. 

The  "Shield's  duel"  was  fought  a  month  or  two  before 
the  marriage,  and  was  occasioned  by  Miss  Todd's  satiri- 
cal sketches  in  The  Sangamon  Journal.  These  sketches 
were  dated  from  the  "Lost  Township,"  a  humorous  ex- 
pression of  indefiniteness  of  locality  which  had  a  local 
point,  and  were  written  in  vernacular  and  signed  "Re- 
becca." The  last  one  was  in  verse  and  signed  "Cath- 
leon," 

That  Miss  Todd  was  no  green  Western  girl  is  evinced 


MISCELLANEOUS.  2  J  I 

by  the  spirit  of  these  sketches  of  local  life,  which  are  re- 
produced in  "Lamon's  Life  of  Lincoln."  She  teased 
Shields  in  them,  and  he  demanded  to  know  the  author. 
Lincoln  accepted  the  responsibility. 


-:o:- 


Didn't  Know  His  Own  House — How  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln Surprised  Her  Husband. 

A  funny  story  is  told  of  how  Mrs,  Lincoln  made  a  lit- 
tle surprise  for  her  husband. 

In  the  early  days  it  was  customary  for  lawyers  to  go 
from  one  county  to  another  on  horseback,  a  journey 
which  often  required  several  weeks.  On  returning  from 
one  of  these  jaunts,  late  one  night,  Mr.  Lincoln  dismount- 
ed from  his  horse  at  the  familiar  corner  and  then  turned 
to  go  into  the  house,  but  stopped;  a  perfectly  unknown 
structure  was  before  him.  Surprised,  and  thinking  there 
must  be  some  mistake,  he  went  across  the  way  and 
knocked  at  a  neighbor's  door.  The  family  had  retired 
and  so  called  out: 

"Who's  there?" 

"Abe  Lincoln,"  was  the  reply.  "I  am  looking  for  my 
house.  I  thought  it  was  across  the  way,  but  when  I 
went  away,  a  few  weeks  ago,  there  was  only  a  one-story 
house  there,  and  now  there  is  two.  I  think  I  must  be 
lost." 

The  neighbors  then  explained  that  Mrs.  Lincoln  had 
added  another  story  during  his  absence.  And  Mr.  Lin- 
coln laughed  and  went  to  his  remodeled  house. 

:o: 


272  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

Lincoln's   Foster-Mother — Her   Romantic  Mar- 
riage to  Thomas  Lincoln. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  7  or  8  years  old  when  his  father, 
Thomas  Lincoln,  removed  from  Kentucky  to  Indiana, 
where,  in  a  year  or  two,  his  wife  died.  The  year  follow- 
ing her  death,  says  a  writer  in  the  Christain  Union,  Mr. 
Lincoln  returned  to  Elizabethtown  to  search  out,  if  pos- 
sible, a  former  neighbor  and  friend,  Mrs.  Sally  Johnston, 
whom,  upon  inquiry,  he  found  still  a  widow,  and  to 
whom  he  at  once  made  a  proposal  of  marriage. 

On  entering  Mrs.  Johnston's  humble  dwelling,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln asked  if  she  remembered  him. 

"Yes,"  said  she,  "I  remember  you  very  well,  Tommy 
Lincoln.  What  has  brought  you  back  to  old  Ken- 
tucky?" 

"Well,"  he  said  in  answer,  "my  wife,  Nancy,  is 
dead." 

"Why,  you  don't  say  so!" 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "she  died  more  than  a  year 
ago,  and  I  have  come  back  to  Kentucky  to  look  for  an- 
other wife.      Do  you  like  me,  Mrs.  Johnston,;" 

"Yes,"  replied  Mrs.  Johnston,  "I  like  you  Tommy 
Lincoln." 

"Do  yolike  me  well  enough  to  marry  me?" 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "I  like  you,  Tommy  Lincoln,  and  I 
like  you  well  enough  to  marry  you,  but  I  can't  marry  you 
now." 

"Why  not?"  said  he. 

"Because  I  am  in  debt,  and  I  could  never  think  of  bur- 
dening the  man  I  marry  with  debt;  it  would  not  be  right." 

"What  are  those  debts?"  said  he. 


274  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

She  told  him  of  the  sums,  "Which,"  said  she,  "I  have 
all  down  here  in  my  account  book." 

On  looking  it  over,  he  saw  that  her  debts  ranged  from 
fifty  cents  to  a  dollar  and  a  quarter,  and  amounted  in  the 
gross  to  something  less  than  twelve  dollars;  not  a  very 
startling  thing  even  in  those  days  of  small  things. 

He  succeeded  in  putting  the  little  book  into  his  coat 
pocket  without  attracting  her  attention,  and  went  out, 
looked  up  the  various  parties,  and  paid  off  all  the  little 
sums  according  to  the  memorandum,  and  returned  in  the 
afternoon  with  the  acknowledgments  of  payments  in  full. 
On  his  returning  the  account  book  to  her,  she  exclaimed: 

"Why,  Tommy  Lincoln,  have  you  gone  and  paid  off 
all  my  debts?" 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "and  you  will  marry  me  now?" 

"Yes,  "said  she,  and  they  were  married  the  next  morn- 
ing at  9  o'clock.  Mr.  Haycraft,  the  narrator  of  the 
story,  was  present  at  the  ceremony. 


•:o: 


MISCELLANEOUS.  275 


Little  Lincoln  Stories. 

An  old  Englishman  who  resided  in  Springfield,  111., 
hearing  the  result  of  the  Political  Convention  at  Chicago, 
could  not  contain  his  astonishment.  "What!"  said  he, 
"Abe  Lincoln  nominated  for  President  of  the  United 
States?  Can  it  be  possible!  A  man  that  buys  a  ten- 
cent  beefsteak  for  his  breakfast,  and  carries  it  home  him- 
self!" 

Mr.  Lincoln  being  asked  by  a  friend  how  he  felt 
when  the  returns  came  in  that  insured  his  defeat,  re- 
plied that  "he  felt,  he  supposed,  very  much  like  the 
stripling  who  had  stumped  his  toe;  too  badly  to  laugh 
and  too  big  to  cry." 

A  young  man  bred  in  Springfield  speaks  of  a  vision 
that  has  clung  to  his  memory  very  vividly,  of  Mr .  Lin- 
coln as  he  appeared  in  those  days.  His  way  to  school 
led  by  the  lawyer's  door.  On  almost  any  fair  summer 
morning,  he  could  find  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  sidewalk,  in 
front  of  his  house,  drawing  a  child  back  and  forth,  in  a 
baby  carriage. 


276  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

In  the  old  country  church  near  the  Lincoln  place,  near 
Rockport,  Indiana,  is  a  pulpit  which  was  made  by  Abe 
Lincoln  and  his  father.  There  is  a  book  case  in  the 
Evansville  Custom  House  made  by  the  same  carpenters 
and  taken  there  for  preservation.  Near  where  the  old 
house  stood  is  a  dilapidated  corn  crib  with  a  rail  floor, 
the  rails  for  which  were  split  by  young  Lincoln. 

In  South  Starksboro,  Addison  County,  Vt,  says  the 
Burlington  Free  Press,  there  are  residing  triplets,  sons  of 
Leonard  Haskins,  born  May  24,  1864,  and  named  by 
President  Lincoln.  They  have  in  their  hand  a  letter 
from  the  martyr-President,  and  the  names  given  were 
Abraham  Lincoln,  Gideon  Welles  and  Simon  Cameron. 
They  are  the  ehildren  of  American  parents. 

Mr.  Lincoln  never  made  his  profession  lucrative  to 
himself.  It  was  very  difficult  for  him  to  charge  a  heavy 
fee  to  anybody,  and  still  more  difficult  for  him  to  charge 
his  friends  anything  at  all  for  his  professional  services. 
To  a  poor  client,  he  was  as  apt  to  give  money  as  to  take 
it  from  him.  He  never  encouraged  the  spirit  of  litiga- 
tion. Henry  McHenry,  one  of  his  old  clients,  says  that 
he  went  to  Mr.  Lincoln  with  a  case  to  prosecute,  and 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it, 
because  he  was  not  strictly  in  the  right .  '  'You  can  give 
the  other  party  a  great  deal  of  trouble, "  said  the  lawyer, 
"and  perhaps  beat  him,  but  you  had  better  let  the  suit 
alone." 

In  one  of  Lincoln's  early  speeches  against  slavery  he 
said:  "My  distinguished  friend,  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
says,  it  is  an  insult  to  the  emigrants  to  Kansas  and    Ne- 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


277 


braska  to  suppose  they  are  not  able  to  govern  them- 
selves. We  must  not  slur  over  an  argument  of  this  kind 
because  it  happens  to  tickle  the  ear.  It  must  be  met 
and  answered.  I  admit  that  the  emigrant  to  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  is  competent  to  govern  himself,  but  (the    speak- 


er rising  to  his  full  height),  /  deny  his  right  to  govern 
any  other  person  without  that  person's  consent,  "  That 
touched  the  very  marrow  of  the  matter,  and  revealed  the 
whole  difference  between  Lincoln  and  Douglas. 

An  old  gentleman  in  Rockport,  near  the  early  home  of 
the  Lincoln's  in  Indiana,  lives  to  tell  of  the  last  time  he 
saw  Lincoln.  He  was  visiting  the  Lincoln  homestead, 
and  as  he  was  coming  away  they  found  a  trespassing 
cow  hanging  about  the  gate.  The  cow  had  given  the 
Lincolns  much  annoyance  by  entering  their  garden  and 
committing  depredations.  Young  Abe  was  dressed  in  a 
suit  of  jeans,  without  any  coat,  as  it  was  summer  time, 
and  on  his  head  he  wore  a  broad-brimmed  white  straw 
hat,  part  of  which  was  cracked  and  broken.  Finding  the 
cow  standing  hypocritically  meek  at  the  gate,  young  Abe 
leaped  astride  of  her  back,  and,  digging  his  bare  heels 
into  her  sides,  the  astonished  animal  broke  away  down 
the  road  in  a  lumbering  gallop.      "The  last  I  saw  of  Abe 


278 


LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 


Lincoln,"  the  old  gentleman  relates  fondly,  "he  was 
swinging  his  hat,  shouting  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  gallop- 
ing down  the  road  on  that  thunderstruck  cow. " 

From  the  original  manuscript  of  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
speeches,  these  words  were  transferred:  ' -Twenty-two 
years  ago,  Judge  Douglas  and  I  first  became  acquaint- 
ed. We  were  both  young  then — he  a  trifle  youn'ger  than 
I.  Even  then  we  were  both  ambitious, — I,  perhaps, 
quite  as  much  so  as  he.  With  me,  the  race  of  ambition 
has  been  a  failure — aflat  failure;  with  him,  it  has  been 
one  of  splendid  success.  His  name  fills  the  nation,  and 
is  not  unknown  even  in  foreign  lands.  I  affect  no  con- 
tempt for  the  high  eminence  he  has  reached.  So  reach- 
ed that  the  oppressed  of  my  species  might  have  shared 
with  me  in  the  elevation,  I  would  rather  stand  on  that 
eminence  than  wear  the  richest  crown  that  ever  pressed 
a  monarch's  brow. 


:o:- 


MISCELLANEOUS.  279 

Lincoln's  Last  Story  and  Last  Written  Words 

and  Conversation. 

The  last  story  written  by  Mr.  Lincoln  Was  drawn  out 
by  a  circumstance  which  occurred  just  before  the  inter- 
view with  Messrs.  Colfax  and  Ashmun,  on  the  evening 
of  the  assassination. 

Marshal  Lamon,  of  Washington,  had  called  upon  him 
with  an  application  for  the  pardon  of  a  soldier.  After  a 
brief  hearing  the  President  took  the  application,  and, 
when  about  to  write  his  name  upon  the  back  of  it  he 
looked  up  and  said: 

"Lamon,  have  you  ever  heard  how  the  Patagonians 
eat  oysters?  They  open  them  and  throw  the  shells  out 
of  the  window  until  the  pile  gets  higher  than  the  house, 
and  then  they  move;"  adding: 

•'I  feel  to-day  like  commencing  a  new  pile  of  pardons, 
and  I  may  as  well  begin  it  just  here." 

At  the  subsequent  interview  with  Messrs.  Colfax  and 
Ashmun,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  high  spirits.  The  uneasi- 
ness felt  by  his  friends  during  his  visit  to  Richmond  was 
dwelt  upon,  when  he  sportively  replied  that  "he  suppos- 
ed he  should  have  been  uneasy  also,  had  any  other  man 
been  President  and  gone  there;  but  as  it  was  he  felt  no 
apprehension  of  danger  whatever."  Turning  to  speaker 
Colfax,  he  said: 

"Sumner  has  the  'gavel'  of  the  Confederate  Congress, 
which  he  got  at  Richmoud,  and  intended  giving  it  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  but  I  insisted  he  must  give  it  to  you, 
and  you  tell  him  from  me  to  hand  it  over." 

Mr.  Ashmun,  who  was  the  presidingofficer  of  the  Chi- 
cago Convention  in  i860,  alluded  to  the  "gavel"  used  on 


280  LINCOLN'S   STORIES   AND   SPEECHES. 

that  occasion,  saying  he  had  preserved  it  as  a  valuable 
memento. 

Mr.  Ashmun  then  referred  to  a  matter  of  business  con- 
nected with  a  cotton  claim,  preferred  by  a  client  of  his, 
and  said  that  he  desired  to  have  a  "commission  appoint- 
ed to  examine  and  decide  upon  the  merits  of  the  case. 
Mr.  Lincoln  replied,  with  a  considerable  warmth  of  man- 
ner: 

"I  have  done  with  'commissions.'  I  believe  they  are 
contrivances  to  cheat  the  Government  out  of  every  pound 
of  cotton  they  can  lay  their  hands  on." 

Mr.  Ashmun's  face  flushed,  and  he  replied  that  he 
hoped  the  President  meant  no  personal  imputation. 

Mr.  Lincoln  saw  that  he  had  wounded  his  friend,  and 
he  instantly  replied : 

"You  do  not  understand  me,  Ashmun.  I  did  not  mean 
what  you  inferred.      1  take  it  all  back. " 

Subsequently  he  said: 

"I  apoligize  to  you,  Ashmun." 

He  then  engaged  to  see  Mr.  Ashmun  early  the  next 
morning,  and,  taking  a  card,  he  wrote: 

'  'Allow  Mr,  Asmun   and  friend   to  come  in  at  9  A.    M. 
to-morrow. 

A.   Lincoln." 

These  were  his  last  written  words.  Turning  to  Mr. 
Colfax,  he  said: 

"You  will  accompany  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  me  to  the 
theater,  I  hope?" 

Mr.  Colfax  pleaded  other  engagements — expecting  to 
start  on  his  Pacific  trip  the  next  morning.  The  party 
passed  out  on  the  portico  together,  the  President  saying 
at  the  very  last: 


MISCELLANEOUS.  28 1 

"Colfax,  don't  forget  to  tell  the  people  of  the  mining 
regions  what  I  told  you  about  the  development  when 
peace  comes;"  and  then  shaking  hands  with  both  gentle- 
men, he  followed  Mrs.  Lincoln  into  the  carriage,  leaning 
forward  at  the  last  moment,  to  say  as  they  were  driven 
off,  '  'I  will  telegraph  you,  Colfax,  at  San  Francisco," — 
passing  thus  forth  for  the  last  time  from  under  that  roof 
into  the  creeping  shadows  which  were  to  settle  before 
another  dawn  into  a  funeral  pall  upon  the  orphaned 
heart  of  the  nation. 


-:o: 


Abraham    Lincoln's    Death — Walt  Whitman's 

Vivid  Description  of  the  Scene  at 

Ford's  Theater. 

The  day  (April  14,  1865)  seems  to  have  been  a  pleas- 
ant one  throughout  the  whole  land — the  moral  atmo- 
sphere pleasant,  too —  the  long  storm,  so  dark,  so  fratri- 
cidal, full  of  blood  and  doubt  and  gloom,  over  and  ended 
at  last  by  the  sunrise  of  such  an  absolute  National  vic- 
tory, and  utter  breaking  down  of  secessionism — we  al- 
most doubted  our  senses!  Lee  had  capitulated  beneath 
the  apple  tree  at  Appommatox.  The  other  armies,  the 
flanges  of  the  revolt,  swiftly  followed. 

And  could  it  really  be,  then?  Out  of  all  the  affairs  of 
this  world  of  woe  and  passion,  of  failure  and  disorder 
and  dismay,  was  there  really  come  the  confirmed,  un- 
erring sign  of  peace,  like  a  shaft  of  pure  light — -of  rightful 
rule — of  God? 

But  I  must  not  dwell  on  assessories.  The  deed  hast- 
ens. The  popular  afternoon  paper,  the  little  Evening 
Star,  had  scattered  all  over  its  third  page,  divided  among 


282  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

the  advertisements  in  a  sensational  manner  in  a  hundred 
different  places: 

'  'The  President  and  his  lady  will  be  at  the  theater  this 
evening." 

Lincoln  was  fond  of  the  theater.  I  have  myself  seen 
him  there  several  times.  I  remember  thinking  how  fun- 
ny it  was  that  he,  in  some  respects  the  leading  actor  in 
greatest  and  stormiest  drama  known  to  real  history's 
stage,  through  centuries,  should  sit  there  and  be  so  com- 
pletely interested  in  those  human  jack-straws,  moving 
about  with  their  silly  little  gestures,  foreign  spirit,  and 
flatulent  text. 

So  the  day,  as  I  say,  was  propitious .  Early  herb- 
age, early  flowers,  were  out.  I  remember  where  I  was 
stopping  at  the  time,  the  season  being  advanced,  there 
were  many  lilacs  in  full  bloom.  By  one  of  those  ca- 
prices that  enter  and  give  tinge  to  events  without  being 
a  part  at  all  of  them,  I  find  myself  always  reminded  of 
the  great  tragedy  of  this  day  by  the  sight  and  odor  of 
these  blossoms.      It  never  fails. 

On  this  occasion  the  theater  was  crowded,  many  ladies 
in  rich  and  gay  costumes,  officers  in  their  uniforms, 
many  well-known  citizens,  young  folks,  the  usual  clusters 
of  gas.  lights,  the  usual  magnetism  of  so  many  people, 
cheerfull  with  perfumes,  music  of  violins  and  flutes — 
and  over  all,  that  saturating,  that  vast,  vague  wonder, 
Victory,  the  Nation's  victory,  the  triumph  of  the  Union, 
filling  the  air,  the  thought,  the  sense,  with  exhiliration 
more  than  all  perfumes. 

The  President  came  betimes,  and,  with  his  wife,  wit- 
nessed the  play,  from  the  large  stage  boxes  of  the  second 
tier,  two  thrown  into  one,  and  profusely  draped  with  the 


MISCELLANEOUS.  283 

National  flag.  The  acts  and  scenes  of  the  piece — one  of 
those  singularly  witless  compositions  which  have  at  least 
the  merit  of  giving  entire  relief  to  an  audience  engaged 
in  mental  action  or  business  excitements  and  cares  dur- 
ing the  day,  as  it  makes  not  the  slightest  call  on  either 
the  moral,  emotional,  esthetic  or  spiritual  nature — a 
piece  ("Our  American  Cousin")  in  which,  among  other 
characters  so  called,  a  Yankee,  certainly  such  a  one  as 
was  never  seen,  or  at  least  like  it  ever  seen  in  North 
America,  is  introduced  in  England,  with  a  varied  fol-de- 
rol  of  talk,  plot,  scenery,  and  such  phantasmagoria  as 
goes  to  make  up  a  modern  popular  drama — had  progress- 
ed through  perhaps  a  couple  of  its  acts,  when  in  the 
midst  of  this  comedy,  or  tragedy,  or  non-such,  or  what- 
ever it  is  to  be  called,  and  to  offset  it,  or  finish  it  out,  as 
if  in  Nature's  and  the  Great  Muse's  mockery  of  these 
poor  mimies,  comes  interpolated  that  scene,  not  really 
or  exactly  to  be  described  at  all  (for  on  the  many  hun- 
dreds who  were  there  it  seems  to  this  hour  to  have  left 
little  but  a  passing  blur,  a  dream,  a  blotch) — and  yet 
partially  described  as  I  now  proceed  to  give  it: 

There  is  a  scene  in  the  play  representing  the  modern 
parlor,  in  which  two  unprecedented  ladies  are  informed 
by  the  unprecedented  and  impossible  Yankee  that  he  is 
not  a  man  of  fortune,  and  therefore  undesirable  for  mar- 
riage catching  purposes;  after  which,  the  comments  be- 
ing finished,  the  dramatic  trio  make  exit,  leaving  the 
stage  clear  for  a  moment. 

There  was  a  pause,  a  hush,  as  it  were.  At  this  period 
came  the  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Great  as  that  was,  with  all  it  manifold  train  circling 
around  it,  and  stretching  into  the  future  for  many  a  cen- 


284  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

tury,  in  the  politics,  history,  art,  etc.,  of  the  New  World 
in  point  of  fact,  the  main  thing,  the  actual  murder,  tran- 
spired with  the  quiet  and  simplicity  of  any  commonest 
occurrence — the  bursting  of  a  bud  or  pod  in  the  growth 
of  vegetation,  for  instance. 

Through  the  general  hum  followiug  the  stage  pause, 
with  the  change  of  positions,  etc.,  came  the  muffled 
sound  of  a  pistol  shot,  which  not  one-hundredth  part  of 
the  audience  heard  at  the  time — and  yet  a  moment's 
hush — somehow,  surely  a  vague,  startled  thrill — and 
then,  through  the  ornamented,  drapereied,  starred,  and 
striped  space-way  of  the  President's  box,  a  sudden  figure, 
a  man,  raises  himself  with  hands  and  feet,  stands  a  mo- 
ment on  the  railing,  leaps  below  to  the  stage  (a  distance 
perhaps  of  14  or  15  feet),  falls  out  of  position  catching 
his  boot-heel  in  the  copious  drapery  (the  American  flag),  » 
falls  on  one  knee,  quickly  recovers  himself,  rises  as  if 
nothing  had  happened  (he  really  sprains  his  ankle,  but 
unfelt  then) — and  the  figure,  Booth,  the  murderer, 
dressed  in  plain,  black  broadcloth,  bare-headed,  with  a 
full  head  of  glossy,  raven  hair,  and  his  eyes,  like  some 
mad  animal's  flashing  with  light  and  resolution,  yet  with 
a  certain  strange  calmness,  holds  aloft  in  one  hand  a 
large  knife — walks  along  not  much  back  of  the  foot-lights 
— turns  fully  towards  the  audience  his  face  of  statuesque 
beauty,  lit  by  those  basilisk  eyes,  flashing  with  despera- 
tion, perhaps  insanity — launches  out  in  a  firm  and  steady 
voice  the  words  Sic  Semper  Tyrannis — and  then  walks 
with  neither  slow  nor  very  rapid  pace  diagonally  across 
to  the  back  of  the  stage,  and  disappears. 

(Had  not  all  this  terrible   scene — making  the  mimic 


MISCELLANEOUS.  285 

ones  preposterous — had  it    not    all  been    rehearshed,  in 
blank,  by  Booth,   beforehand?) 

A  moment's  hush,  incredulous — a  scream — a  cry  of 
murder — Mrs.  Lincoln  leaning  out  of  the  box,  with  ashy 
cheeks  and  lips,  with  involuntary  cry,  pointing  to  the  re- 
treating figure,  "He  has  killed  the  President." 

And  still  a  moment's  strange,  incredulous  suspense — 
and  then  the  deluge! — then  that  mixture  of  horror, 
noises,  uncertainty — (the  sound,  somewhere  back,  of  a 
horse's  hoofs  clattering  with  speed)  the  people  burst 
through  chairs  and  railings,  and  break  them  up — that 
noise  adds  to  the  queerness  of  the  scene — there  is  extri- 
cable  confusion  and  terror — women  faint — quite  feeble 
persons  fall,  and  are  trampled  on — many  cries  of  agony 
are  heard — the  broad  stage  suddenly  fills  to  suffocation 
with  a  dense  and  motley  crowd,  like  some  horrible  carni- 
val— the  audience  rush  generally  upon  it — at  least  the 
strong  men  do — the  actors  and  actresses  are  there  in 
their  play  costumes  and  painted  faces,  with  moral  fright 
showing  through  the  rouge — some  trembling,  some  in 
tears — the  screams  and  calls,  confused  talk — redoubled, 
trebled — two  or  three  manage  to  pass  up  water  from  the 
stage  to  the  President's  box,  others  try  to  clamber  up, 
etc.,  etc, 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  the  soldiers  of  the  President's 
Guard,  with  others,  suddenly  drawn  to  the  scene,  burst 
in — some  200  altogether — they  storm  the  house,  through 
all  the  tiers,  especially  the  upper  ones — inflamed  with 
fury,  literally  charging  the  audience  with  fixed  bayonets, 
muskets  and  pistols,  shouting  "Clear  out!  clear  out!  you 
sons  of  b !" 


286  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Such  the  wild  scene,  or  a  suggestion  of  it  rather,  in- 
side the  play  house  that  night. 

Outside,  too,  in  the  atmosphere  of  shock  and  craze, 
crowds  of  people,  filled  with  frenzy,  ready  to  seize  any 
outlet  for  it,  came  near  committing  murder  several  times 
on  innocent  individuals. 

One  such  case  was  particularly  exciting.  The  infuri- 
ated crowd,  through  some  chance,  got  started  against 
one  man,  either  for  words  he  uttered,  or  perhaps  with- 
out any  cause  at  all,  and  were  proceeding  to  hang  him 
at  once  to  a  neighboring  lamp-post,  when  he  was  rescued 
by  a  few  heroic  policemen,  who  placed  him  in  their  midst  • 
and  fought  their  way  slowly  and  amid  great  peril  toward 
the  station  house. 

It  was  a  fitting  episode  of  the  whole  affair.  The 
crowd  rushing  and  eddying  to  and,  fro,  the  night,  the 
yells,  the  pale  faces,  many  frightened  people  trying  in 
vain  to  extricate  themselves,  the  attacked  man,  not  yet 
freed  from  the  jaws  of  death,  looking  like  a  corpse;  the 
silent,  resolute  half-dozen  policemen,  with  no  weapons 
but  their  little  clubs;  yet  stern  and  steady  through  all 
those  eddying  swarms;  made  indeed  a  fitting  side  scene 
to  the  grand  tragedy  of  the  murder.  They  gained  the 
station  house  with  the  protected  man,  whom  they  placed 
in  security  for  the  night,  and  discharged  him  in  the  morn- 
ing. 

And  in  the  midst  of  that  night  pandemonium  of  sense- 
less hate,  infuriated  soldiers,  the  audience  and  the  crowd 
— the  stage,  and  all  its  actors  and  actresses,  its  paint 
pots,  spangles  and  gas-light — the  life-blood  from  those 
veins,  the  best  and  sweetest    of   the  land,   drips  slowly 


[Mr.   Lincoln  was   removed  from  the  theater  to  this  ad- 
jacent building  where  he  soon  passed  away.]  [287] 


288  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

down,  and  death's  ooze  already  begins   its  little  bubbles 
on  the  lips. 

Such,  hurriedly  sketched,  were  the  accompaniments 
of  the  death  of  President  Lincoln.  So  suddenly,  and  in 
murder  and  horror  unsurpassed,  he  was  taken  from  us. 
But  his  death  was  painless. 


-:o:- 


LINCOLN'S  FAVORITE  POEM. 


Oh!  Why  Should  the  Spirit  of  Mortal  be  Proud? 

The  evening  of  March  22nd,  1864,  says  F.  B.  Carpen- 
ter, was  a  most  interesting  one  to  me.  I  was  with  the 
President  alone  in  his  office  for  several  hours.  Busy  with 
pen  and  papers  when  I  went  in,  he  presently  threw  them 
aside  and  commenced  talking  to  me  of  Shakspeare,  of 
whom  he  was  very  fond.  Little  "Tad,"  his  son,  coming 
in,  he  sent  him  to  the  library  for  a  copy  of  the  plays,  and 
then  read  to  me  several  of  his  favorite  passages.  Relaps- 
ing into  a  sadder  strain,  he  laid  the  book  aside,  and  lean- 
ing back  in  his  chair,  said: 

"There  is  a  poem  which  has  been  a  great  favorite  with 
me  for  years,  which  was  first  shown  to  me  when  a  young 
man  by  a  friend,  and  which  I  afterwards  saw  and  cut 
from  a  newspaper  and  learned  by  heart.  I  would,"  he 
continued,  '  'give  a  great  deal  to  know  who  wrote  it,  but 
I  have  never  been  able  to  ascertain."  Then,  half-closing 
his  eyes,  be  repeated  the  verses  to  me,  as  follows: 

Oh!  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud? — 
Like  a  swift-fleeting  meteor,  a  fast-flying  cloud, 
A  flash  of  the  lightning,  a  break  of  the  wave, 
He  passeth  from  life  to  his  rest  in  the  grave. 


MISCELLANEOUS.  289 

The  leaves  of  the  oak  and  the  willow  shall  fade, 
Be  scattered  around,  and  together  be  laid; 
And  the  young  and  the  old,  and  the  low  and  the  high, 
Shall  moulder  to  dust,  and  together  shall  lie. 

The  infant  a  mother  attended  and  loved; 
The  mother,  that  infant's  affection  who  proved, 
The  husband,  that  mother  and  infant  who  blessed — 
Each,  all,  are  away  to  their  dwellings  of  rest. 

The  maid  on  whose  cheek,  on  whose  brow,  in  whose  eye, 
Shone  beauty  and  pleasure — her  triumphs  are  by; 
And  the  memory  of  those  who  loved  her  and  praised, 
Are  alike  from  the  minds  of  the  living  erased. 

The  hand  of  the  king,  that  the  sceptre  hath  borne, 
The  brow  of  the  priest,  that  the  mitre  hath  worn, 
The  eye  of  the  sage,  and  the  heart  of  the  brave, 
Are  hidden  and  lost  in  the  depths  of  the  grave. 

The  peasant,  whose  lot  was  to  sow  and  to  reap, 
The  herdsman,  who  climbed  with  his  goats  up  the  steep, 
The  beggar,  who  wandered  in  search  of  his  bread, 
Have  faded  away  like  the  grass  that  we  tread. 

The  saint,  who  enjoyed  the  communion  of  heaven, 
The  sinner,  who  dared  to  remain  unforgiven, 
The  wise  and  the  foolish,  the  guilty  and  just, 
Have  quietly  mingled  their  bones  in  the  dust. 

So  the  multitude  goes — like  the  flower  or  the  weed, 
That  withers  away  to  let  others  succeed; 
So  the  multitude  comes — even  those  we  behold, 
To  repeat  every  tale  that  has  often  been  told: 


29O  LINCOLNS     STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

For  we  are  the  same  our  fathers  have  been; 
We  see  the  same  sights  our  fathers  have  seen; 
We  drink  the  same  stream,  we  view  the  same  sun, 
And  run  the  same  course  our  fathers  have  run. 

The  thoughts  we  are  thinking,  our  fathers  would  think; 
From  the  death  we  are  shrinking,  our  fathers  would  shrink; 
To  the  life  we  are  clinging,  they  also  would  cling — 
But  it  speeds  from  us  all  like  a  bird  on  the  wing. 

The  loved — but  the  story  we  cannot  unfold; 
They  scorned — but  the  heart  of  the  haughty  is  cold; 
They  grieved — but  no  wail  from  their  slumber  will  come; 
They  joyed — but  the  tongue  of  their  gladness  is  dumb. 

They  died — aye,  they  died — and  we  things  that  are  now, 

That  walk  on  the  turf  that  lies  o'er  their  brow, 

And  make  in  their  dwellings  a  transient  abode, 

Meet  the  things  that  they  met  on  ther  pilgrimage  road. 

Yea!  hope  and  despondency,  pleasure  and  pain, 
Are  mingled  together  in  sunshine  and  rain; 
And  the  smile  and  the  tear,  the  song  and  the  dirge, 
Still  follow  each  other,  like  surge  upon  surge. 

•  Tis  the  wink  of  an  eye,  —  'tis  the  draught  of  a  breath; 
From  the  blossom  of  health  to  the  paleness  of  death, 
From  the  gilded  saloon  to  the  bier  and  the  shroud: — 
Oh!  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud? 

[This  poem  was  written  by  Wm.  Knox,  a  Scotchman.] 
:o: 


LINCOLN'S    SPEECHES 


1832—1865. 


CHRONOLOGICALLY    ARRANGED. 


LINCOLN'S  FIRST  POLITICAL  SPEECH. 

Mr.  Lincoln  made  his  first  political  speech  in  1832,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-three,  when  he  was  a  candidate  for 
the  Illinois  Legislature.  His  opponent  had  wearied  the 
audience  by  a  long  speech,  leaving  him  but  a  short  time 
in  which  to  present  his  views.  He  condensed  all  he  had 
to  say  into  a  few  words,  as  follows: 

"Gentlemen,  Fellow-Citizens: — I  presume  you 
know  who  I  am.  I  am  humble  Abraham  Lincoln.  I  have 
been  solicited  by  my  friends  to  become  a  candidate  for 
the  legislature.  My  politics  can  be  briefly  stated.  I  am 
in  favor  of  the  Internal  Improvement  system,  and  a  High 
Protective  Tariff.  These  are  my  sentiments  and  political 
principles.  If  elected,  I  shall  be  thankful.  If  not,  it 
will  be  all  the  same. 

[291] 


292 


LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 


-^StJlE 


— . .'  t.,,u  *..  fi  .ta/t*-  - 


MONUMENT  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  AT  LINCOLN  PARK 


SHOWING    HIS    HAND.  293 


SHOWING  HIS  HAND. 


Delivered  at  New  Salem,  111.,  June  13,  1836,  to  the  voters  of  Sangamon 
County,  111.,  after  being  called  upon  to  "show  his  hand." 

Fellow  Citizens: — The  candidates  are  called  upon,  I 
see,  to  show  their  hands.  Here  is  mine.  I  go  for  all 
sharing  the  privileges  of  government  who  assist  in  bear- 
ing its  burdens.  Consequently,  I  go  for  admitting  all  the 
whites  to  the  right  of  suffrage  who  pay  taxes  or  bear 
arms,  by  no  means  excluding  the  females. 

If  elected,  I  shall  consider  the  whole  people  of  San- 
gamon Connty  my  constituents,  as  well  those  who  oppose 
as  those  who  support  me. 

While  acting  as  their  Representative,  I  shall  be  gov- 
erned by  their  will  on  all  subjects  upon  which  I  have  the 
means  of  knowing  what  their  will  is,  and  upon  all  oth- 
ers I  shall  do  what  my  judgment  tells  me  will  best  ad- 
vance their  interests. 

Whether  elected  or  not,  I  go  for  distributing  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  to  the  several  States, 
to  enable  our  State,  in  common  with  others,  to  dig  can- 
als and  construct  railroads  without  borrowing  money  and 
paying  the  interest  on  it. 

If  alive  on  the  first  day  in  November,  I  shall  vote  for 
Hugh  L.  White  for  President. 


:o:- 


294        LINCOLN S  STORIES  AND  SPEECHES. 


FORQUER'S  LIGHTNING  ROD  IS   STRUCK. 


Lincoln's  opponent  for  the  Legislature  in  1836  was  the  Hon.  George 
Forquer,  of  Springfield,  111.,  wno  was  celebrated  for  having  "  changed  his 
coat"  politically,  and  as  having  introduced  the  first  and  only  lightning- 
rod  in  Springfield  at  this  time.  He  said  in  a  speech  in  Lincoln's  pres- 
ence, "this  young  man  would  have  to  be  taken  down,  and  1  am  sorry 
the  task  devolves  upon  me;"  and  then  proceeded  to  try  and  "take  him 
down."  Mr.  Lincoln  made  a  reply,  and  in  closing,  turned  to  the  crowd 
and  made  these  remarks: 

Fellow-Citizens: — It  is  for  you,  not  for  me,  to  say 
whether  I  am  up  or  down.  The  gentleman  has  alluded 
to  my  being  a  young  man;  I  am  older  in  years  than  I  am 
in  the  tricks  and  trades  of  politicians.  I  desire  to  live, 
and  I  desire  place  and  distinction  as  a  politician;  but  I 
would  rather  die  now  than,  like  the  gentleman,  live  to  see 
the  day  that  I  would  have  to  erect  a  lightning  rod  to  pro- 
tect a  guilty  conscience  from  an  offended  God! 

:o: 


FREE    INSTITUTIONS.  295 


THE    PERPETUITY    OF    OUR    FREE 
INSTITUTIONS. 


Delivered  before  the  Springfield,  111.,  Lyceum,  in  January,  1837,  when 
28  years  of  age.  Coming,  as  he  did  upon  this  occasion,  before  a  literary 
society,  Mr.  Lincoln's  Websterian  diction  is  more  observable. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — In  the  great  journal  of  things 
happening  under  the  sun,  we,  the  American  people,  find 
our  account  running  under  date  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury of  the  Christian  era.  We  find  ourselves  in  the  peace- 
ful possession  of  the  fairest  portion  of  the  earth  as  re- 
gards extent  of  territory,  fertility  of  soil  and  salubrity  of 
climate. 

We  find  ourselves  under  the  government  of  a  system 
of  political  institutions  conducing  more  essentially  to  the 
ends  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  than  any  of  which  his- 
tory of  former  times  tell  us. 

We,  when  mounting  the  stage  of  existence,  found  our- 
selves the  legal  inheritors  of  these  fundamental  blessings. 
We  toiled  not  in  the  acquisition  or  establishment  of 
them;  they  are  a  legacy  bequeathed  to  us  by  a  once 
hardy,  brave  and  patriotic,  but  now  lamented  and  de- 
parted race  of  ancestors. 

Theirs  was  the  task  (and  nobly  they  performed  it)  to 
possess  themselves,  and,  through  themselves,  us,  of  this 
goodly  land  to  uprear  upon  its  hills  and  valleys  a  polit- 
ical edifice  of  liberty  and  equal  rights;  'tis  ours  to  trans- 


296  LINCOLN    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

mit  these — the  former  unprofaned  by  the  foot  of  an  in- 
truder, the  latter  undecayed  by  the  lapse  of  time  and  un- 
torn  by  usurpation — to  the  generation  that  fate  shall  per- 
mit the  world  to  know.  This  task,  gratitude  to  our  fath- 
ers, justice  to  ourselves,  duty  to  posterity — all  impera- 
tively require  us  faithfully  to  perform. 

How,  then,  shall  we  perform  it?     At  what  point  shall 
we  expect  the  approach  of  danger?    Shall  we  expect  that 


BEN    FRANKLIN. 

some  trans-Atlantic  military  giant  to  step  the  ocean  and 
crush  us  at  a  blow? 

Never!  All  the  armies  of  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa 
combined,  with  all  the  treasures  of  the  earth  (our  own 
excepted)  in  their  military  chest,  with  a  Bonaparte  for  a 
commander,  could  not,  by  force,  take  a  drink  from  the 
Ohio,  or  make  a  track  on  the  blue  ridge,  in  a  trial  of  a 
thousand  years. 

At  what  point,  then,  is  this  approach  of  danger  to  be 


FREE    INSTITUTIONS.  297 

expected?  I  answer,  if  ever  it  reach  us,  it  must  spring 
up  amongst  us.  It  cannot  come  from  abroad.  If  de- 
struction be  our  lot,  we  must  ourselves  be  its  author  and 
finisher.  As  a  nation  of  freeman,  we  must  live  through 
all  time  or  die  by  suicide. 

I  hope  I  am  not  over-wary;  but,  if  I  am  not,  there  is 
even  now  something  of  ill-omen  amongst  us.  I  mean 
the  increasing  disregard  for  law  which  pervades  the 
country,  the  disposition  to  substitute  the  wild  and  furious 
passions  in  lieu  of  the  sober  judgment  of  courts,  and  the 
worse  than  savage  mobs  for  the  executive  ministers  of 
justice. 

This  disposition  is  awfully  fearful  in  any  community, 
and  that  it  now  exists  in  ours,  though  grating  to  our 
feelings  to  admit  it,  it  would  be  a  violation  of  truth  and 
an  insult  to  deny. 

Accounts  of  outrages  committed  by  mobs  form  the  ev- 
ery day  news  of  the  times.  They  have  pervaded  the 
country  from  New  England  to  Louisiana;  they  are  neither 
peculiar  to  the  eternal  snows  of  the  former,  nor  the  burn- 
ing sun  of  the  latter. 

They  are  not  the  creatures  of  climate,  neither  are  they 
confined  to  the  slave-holding  or  non-slave-holding  States. 
Alike  they  spring  up  among  the  pleasure-hunting  masters 
of  southern  slaves  and  the  order-loving  citizens  of  the 
land  of  steady  habits.  Whatever,  then,  their  cause  may 
be,  it  is  common  to  the  whole  country. 

Many  great  and  good  men,  sufficiently  qualified  for 
any  task  they  may  undertake,  may  ever  be  found,  whose 
ambition  would  aspire  to  nothing  beyond  a  seat  in  Con- 
gress, a  gubernatorial  or  presidential  chair;  but  such  be- 


298  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

long  not  to  the  family  of  the  lion,  or  the  tribe  of  the 
eagle. 

What!  Think  you  these  places  would  satisfy  an  Alex- 
ander, a  Caesar  or  a  Napoleon?  Never!  Towering  ge- 
nius disdains  a  beaten  path.  It  seeks  regions  hitherto 
unexplored. 

It  seeks  no  distinction  in  adding  story  to  story  upon 
the  monuments  of  fame,  erected  to  the  memory  of  oth- 
ers. It  denies  that  it  is  glory  enough  to  serve  under  any 
chief.  It  scorns  to  tread  in  the  footpaths  of  any  prede- 
cessor, however  illustrious.  It  thirsts  and  burns  for  dis- 
tinction, and,  if  possible,  it  will  have  it,  whether  at  the 
expense  of  emancipating  the  slaves  or  enslaving  free- 
men. 

Another  reason  which  once  was,  but  which  to  the  same 
extent  is  now  no  more,  has  done  much  in  maintaining 
our  institutions  thus  far.  I  mean  the  powerful  influence 
which  the  interesting  scenes  of  the  Revolution  had  upon 
the  passions  of  the  people,  as  distinguished  from  their 
judgment. 

But  these  histories  are  gone .  They  can  be  read  no 
more  forever.  They  were  a  fortress  of  strength.  But 
what  the  invading  foeman  could  never  do,  the  silent  ar- 
tillery of  time  has  done — the  levelling  of  the  walls.  They 
were  a  forest  of  giant  oaks,  but  the  all-resisting  hurri- 
cane swept  over  them  and  left  only  here  and  there  a  lone 
trunk,  despoiled  of  its  verdue,  shorn  of  its  foliage,  un- 
shading  and  unshaded,  to  murmur  in  a  few  more  gentle 
breezes  and  to  combat  with  its  multiplied  limbs  a  few 
more  rude  storms,  then  to  sink  and  be  no  more.  They 
were  the  pillars  of  the  temple  of  liberty,  and  now  that 
they  have  crumbled  away,  that  temple  must  fall,  unless 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 


299 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 
First  President  of  the  United  States. 


3oo  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

we,  the  descendants,  supply  the  places  with  pillars  hewn 
from  the  same  solid  quarry  of  sober  reason. 

Passion  has  helped  us,  but  can  do  so  no  more.  It  will 
in  future  be  our  enemy. 

Reason — cold,  calculating,  unimpassioned  reason  — 
must  furnish  all  the  materials  for  our  support  and  de- 
fense. Let  those  materials  be  molded  into  general  in- 
telligence, sound  morality,  and  in  particular,  a  reverence 
for  the  constitution  and  the  laws;  and  then  our  country 
shall  continue  to  improve,  and  our  nation,  revering  his 
name,  and  permitting  no  hostile  foot  to  pass  or  desecrate 
his  resting  place,  shall  be  that  to  hear  the  last  trump 
that  shall  awaken  our  Washington. 

Upon  these  let  the  proud  fabric  of  freedom  rest  as  the 
rock  of  its  basis,  and  as  truly  as  has  been  said  of  the  only 
greater  institution,  "the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it." 

:o: 


IN  THE  SUPREME  COURT.  301 


LINCOLN'S    FIRST    SPEECH   IN    THE 
SUPREME  COURT. 

The  case  being  called,  Mr.  Lincoln   appeared   for   appellant,    and,  ac- 
cording to  Judge  Treat,  spoke  as  follows: 

Your  Honor: — This  is  the  first  case  I  ever  had  in  this 
court,  and  I  have  examined  it  with  great  care.  As  the 
court  will  perceive  by  looking  at  the  abstract  of  the  rec- 
ord, the  only  question  in  the  case  is  one  of  authority. 
I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  authority  sustaining  my 
side  of  the  case,  but  I  have  found  several  cases  directly 
in  point  on  the  other  side.  I  will  now  give  the  citations 
and  then  submit  the  case. 

:o: 


302  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPFECHES. 


EXCULPATING  THE  WHIGS. 


Being  so  much  as  is  on  record  of  a  reply  to  Col .  Dick  Taylor,  a  Demo- 
crat, who  had  characterized  the  Whigs  as  being  "pretentious  lords," 
and  very  aristocratic,  etc,,  delivered,  says  Hon.  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  in 
1840. 

Gentlemen: — While  he  (Col.  Taylor)  was  making 
these  charges  against  the  Whigs  riding  in  fine  carriages, 
wearing  ruffled  shirts,  kid  gloves,  massive  gold  watch 
chains,  with  large  seals,  and  flourishing  a  heavy  gold- 
headed  cane,  I  (Lincoln)  was  a  poor  boy,  hired  on  a  flat- 
boat  at  eight  dollars  a  month,  and  had  only  one  pair  of 
breeches,  and  they  were  buckskin — and  if  you  know  the 
nature  of  buckskin,  when  wet  and  dried  by  the  sun,  they 
shrink — and  mine  kept  shrinking  until  they  left  several 
inches  of  my  legs  bare  between  the  tops  of  my  socks  and 
the  lower  part  of  my  breeches;  and  whilst  I  was  growing 
taller  they  were  growing  shorter,  and  so  much  tighter, 
that  they  left  a  blue  streak  around  my  legs  that  can  be 
seen  to  this  day.  If  you  call  this  aristocracy,  I  plead 
guilty  to  the  charge. 

:o: 


NATIONAL    BANK    VS.     SUB-TREASURY.  303 


NATIONAL  BANK  vs.  SUB-TREASURY. 


Delivered  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Springfield,  Illinois, 
and  published  in  the  Sangamon  Journal,  March  6,  1840.  The  debaters 
on  the  question  were  Messrs.  Logan,  Baker,  Browning  and  Lincoln, 
against  Douglas,  Calhoun,  Lamborn  and  Thomas. 

Fellow-Citizens: — It  is  peculiarly  embarrassing  to  me 
to  attempt  a  continuance  of  the  discussion,  on  this  eve- 
ning, which  has  been  conducted  in  this  hall  on  several 
preceding  ones. 

It  is  so,  because  on  each  of  these  evenings  there  was 
a  much  fuller  attendance  than  now,  without  any  reason 
for  its  being  so  except  the  greater  interest  the  commu- 
nity feel  in  the  speaker  who  .addressed  them  then  than 
they  do  in  him  who  addresses  them  now. 

I  am,  indeed,  apprehensive  that  the  few  who  have  at- 
tended have  done  so  more  to  spare  me  of  mortification 
than  in  the  hope  of  being  interested  in  anything  I  may 
be  able  to  say. 

This  circumstance  casts  a  damp  upon  my  spirits  which 
I  am  sure  I  shall  be  unable  to  overcome  during  the  eve- 
ning. 

The  subject  heretofore  and  now  to  be  discussed  is  the 
sub-treasury  scheme  of  the  present  administration,  as  a 
means  of  collecting,  safe-keeping,  transferring  and  dis- 
bursing the  revenues  of  the  nation  as  contrasted  with  a 
national  bank  for  the  same  pnrpose. 

Mr.  Douglas    has  said   that    we  (the  Whigs)  have  not 


304  LINCOLN'S    STORIES   AND   SPEECHES. 

dared   to    meet  them   (the  Locos)    in  argument  on  this 
question. 

I  protest  against  this  assertion .  I  say  we  have  again 
and  again  during  this  discussion  urged  facts  and  argu- 
ments against  the  sub-treasury  which  they  have  neither 
dared  to  deny  nor  attempted  to  answer. 

But  lest  some  may  be  led  to  believe  that  we  really 
wish  to  avoid  the  question,  I  now  propose,  in  my  hum- 
ble way,  to  urge  these  arguments  again,  at  the  same  time 
begging  the  audience  to  mark  well  the  positions  I  shall 
take  and  the  proof  I  shall  offer  to  sustain  them,  and  that 
they  will  not  allow  Mr.  Douglas  or  his  friends  to  escape 
the  force  of  them  by  a  round  of  groundless  assertions 
that  we  dare  not  meet  them  in  argument. 

First.  It  will  injuriously  affect  the  community  by  its 
operation  on  the  circulating  medium. 

Second.      It  will  be  a  more  expensive  fiscal  agent. 

Third.  It  will  be  a  less  secure  depository  for  the  pub- 
lic money. 

Mr.  Lamborn  insists  that  the  difference  betweeu  the 
Van  Buren  party  and  the  Whigs  is,  that  although  the 
former  sometimes  err  in  practice,  they  are  always  cor- 
rect in  principle,  whereas  the  latter  are  wrong  in  princi- 
ple; and  the  better  to  impress  this  proposition  he  uses  a 
figurative  expression  in  these  words: 

"The  Democrats  are  vulnerable  in  the  heel,  but  they 
are  sound  in  the  heart  and  head." 

The  first  branch  of  the  figure — that  the  Democrats  are 
vulnerable  in  the  heel — I  admit  is  not  merely  figurative, 
but  literally  true.  Who  that  looks  for  a  moment  at  their 
Swartwouts,  their  Prices,  their  Harringtons,  and  their 
hundreds  of  others   scampering   away    with    the  public 


NATIONAL    BANK    VS.     SUB-TREASURY. 


305 


money  to  Texas,  to  Europe,  and  to  every  spot  on  earth 
where  a  villian  may  hope  to  find  refuge  from  justice,  can 
at  all  doubt  that  they  are  most  distressingly  affected  in 
their  heels  with  a  species  of  running  itch. 

It  seems  this  malady  of  the  heels  operates  on  the  sound 
headed  and  honest  hearted  creatures  very  much  like  the 
cork  leg  in  the  comic  song  did  on  its  owner,  which  when 
he  had  once  got  started  on  it,  the  more  he  tried  to  stop 
it  the  more  it  would  run  away. 

At  the  hazard  of  wearing  this  point  threadbare,  I  will 


INDUSTRIAL   EXPOSITION. 

relate  an  anecdote  which  is  too  strikingly  in  point  to  be 
omitted: 

A  witty  Irish  soldier  was  always  boasting  of  his  brav- 
ery when  no  danger  was  near,  who  invariably  retreated 
without  orders  at  the  first  charge  of  the  engagement,  be- 
ing asked  by  the  captain  why  he  did  so,  replied,  "Cap- 
tain I  have  as  brave  a  heart  as  Julius  Caesar  ever  had, 
but  somehow  or  other,  when  danger  approaches,  my 
cowardly  legs  will  run  away  with  it!" 

So  with  Mr.  Lamborn's  party. 


306  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

They  take  the  public  money  into  their  own  hands  for 
the  most  laudable  purpose  that  wise  heads  and  willing 
hearts  can  dictate;  but,  before  they  can  possibly  get  it 
out  again,  their  rascally  vulnerable  heels  will  run  away 
with  them. 

Mr.  Lamborn  refers  to  the  late  elections  in  the  States, 
and  from  the  result  predicts  that  every  State  in  the  Union 
will  vote  for  Mr.  Van  Buren  at  the  next  Presidential 
election. 

Address  that  argument  to  cowards  and  knaves;  with 
the  free  and  the  brave  it  will  affect  nothing.  It  may  be 
true;  if  it  must,  let  it.  Many  free  countries  have  lost 
their  liberty,  and  ours  may  lose  hers;  but  if  she  shall,  be 
it  my  proudest  plume,  not  that  I  was  the  last  to  desert, 
but  that  I  never  deserted  her. 

I  know  that  the  great  volcano  at  Washington,  aroused 
by  the  civil  spirits  that  reign  there,  is  belching  forth  the 
laws  of  polilical  corruption  in  a  current  broad  and  deep, 
which  is  sweeping  with  frightful  velocity  over  the  whole 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  bidding  fair  to  leave  un- 
scathed no  green  spot  or  living  thing;  while  on  its  bosom 
are  riding,  like  demons  on  the  wave  of  hell,  the  imps  of 
that  evil  spirit  fiendishly  taunting  all  those  who  dare  re- 
sist its  destroying  course  with  hopelessness  of  their  ef- 
forts; and  knowing  this,  I  cannot  deny  that  all  may  be 
swept  away.  Broken  by  it,  I,  too,  may  be;  bow  to  it,  I 
never  will . 

The  probability  that  we  may  fall  in  the  struggle  ought 
not  to  deter  us  from  the  support  of  a  course  we  believe 
to  be  just.      It  shall  not  deter  me. 

If  ever  I  feel  the  soul  within  me  elevate  and  expand  to 
those  dimensions,  not  wholly  unworthy   of  its    Almighty 


NATIONAL   BANK    VS.    SUB-TREASURY.  307 

architect,  it  is  when  I  contemplate  the  cause  of  my  coun- 
try deserted  by  all  the  world  beside,  and  I  standing  up 
boldly  alone,  hurling  defiance  at  her  victorious  oppos- 
ers. 

Here,  without  contemplating  the  consequences,  before 
heaven  and  in  the  face  of  the  world,  I  swear  eternal  feal- 
ty to  the  just  cause,  as  I  deem  it,  of  the  land  of  my  life, 
my  liberty,  and  my  love. 

And  who  that  thinks  with  me  will  not  fearlessly  adopt 
that  oath  that  I  take?  Let  none  falter  who  thinks  he  is 
right,  and  we  may  succeed.  But  if  after  all  we  may  fail, 
be  it  so;  we  shall  still  have  the  proud  consolation  of  say- 
ing to  our  conscience,  and  to  the  departed  shade  of  our 
country's  freedom,  that  the  cause  approved  of  our  judg- 
ment and  adored  of  our  hearts  in  disaster,  in  chains,  in 
torture,  in  death,  we  never  faltered  in  defending. 

:o; 


[308] 


TEMPERANCE.  309 


LINCOLN'S  TEMPERANCE  SPEECH. 


Originally  Printed  as  "An   Address   by  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  Esq." 

[Delivered  before  the  Springfield  Washingtonian  Temperance  Society, 
at  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  on  the  22nd  day  of  February,  1842, 

Although  the  temperance  cause  has  been  in  progress 
for  nearly  twenty  years,  it  is  apparent  to  all  that  it  is 
just  now  beiug  crowned  with  a  degree  of  success  hitherto 
unparalleled. 

The  list  of  its  friends  is  daily  swelled  by  the  additions 
of  fifties,  hundreds  and  thousands.  The  cause  itself 
seems  suddenly  transformed  from  a  cold,  abstract  theory 
to  a  living,  breathing,  active  and  powerful  chieftain,  go- 
ing forth  "conquering  and  to  conquer."  The  citadels  of 
his  great  adversary  are  daily  being  stormed  and  disman- 
tled: his  temples  and  his  altars,  where  the  rites  of  his 
idolatrous  worship  have  long  been  performed,  and  where 
human  sacrifices  have  long  been  wont  to  be  made,  are 
daily  desecrated  and  deserted.  The  tramp  of  the  con- 
queror's fame  is  sounding  from  hill  to  hill,  from  sea  to 
sea,  and  from  land  to  land,  and  calling  millions  to  his 
standard  at  a  blast. 

For  this  new  and  splendid  success  we  heartily  rejoice. 
That  that  success  is  so  much  greater  now,  than    hereto- 


310  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

fore,  is  doubtless  owing  to  rational  causes;  and  if  we 
would  have  it  continue,  we  shall  do  well  to  inquire  what 
those  causes  are. 

The  warfare  heretofore  waged  against  the  demon  in- 
temperance has,  somehow  or  other,  been  erroneous. 
Either  the  champions  engaged  or  the  tactics  they  adopt- 
ed have  not  been  the  most  proper.  These  champions, 
for  the  most  part,  have  been  preachers,  lawyers  and 
hired  agents;  between  these  and  the  mass  of  mankind, 
there  is  a  want  of  approachability,  if  the  term  be  admiss- 
able,  partial  at  least,  fatal  to  their  success.  They  are 
supposed  to  have  no  sympathy  of  feeling  or  interest  with 
those  very  persons  whom  it  is  their  object  to  convince 
and  persuade. 

And  again,  it  is  so  easy  and  so  common  to  ascribe 
motives  to  men  of  these  classes  other  than  those  they 
profess  to  act  upon.  The  preacher,  it  is  said,  advocates 
temperance  because  he  is  a  fanatic;  and  desires  a  union 
of  the  Church  and  State;  the  lawyer  from  his  pride  and 
vanity  of  hearing  himself  speak;  and  the  hired  agent  for 
his  salary. 

But  when  one  who  has  long  been  known  as  a  victim  of 
intemperance  bursts  the  fetters  that/have  bound  him,  and 
appears  before  his  neighbors  "clothed  in  his  right  mind," 
a  redeemed  specimen  of  long-lost  humanity,  and  stands 
up  with  tears  of  joy  trembling  in  his  eyes  to  tell  of  the 
miseries  once  endured,  now  to  be  endured  no  more  for- 
ever; of  his  once  naked  and  starving  children,  now  fed 
and  clad  comfortably;  of  a  wife  long  weighed  down  with 
woe,  weeping  and  a  broken  heart,  now  restored  to 
health,    happiness,  and  a  renewed    affection,    and    how 


(3ii) 


312  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

easily  it  is  all  done,  once  resolved  to  be  done;  how  sim- 
ple his  language;  there  is  a  logic  and  an  eloquence  in  it 
that  few  with  human  feelings  can  resist. 

They  cannot  say  that  he  desires  a  union  with  Church 
and  State,  for  he  is  not  a  church  meraher;  they  cannot 
say  he  is  vain  of  hearing  himself  speak,  for  his  whole  de- 
meanor shows  he  would  gladly  avoid  speaking  at  all;  they 
cannot  say  he  speaks  for  pay,  for  he  receives  none.  Nor 
can  his  sincerity  in  any  way  be  doubted,  or  his  sympathy 
for  those  he  would  persuade  to  imitate  his  example  be 
denied. 

In  my  judgment  it  is  to  the  battles  of  this  new  class  of 
champions  that  our  late  success  is  greatly,  perhaps  chief- 
ly, owing.  But  had  the  old  school  champions  them- 
selves been  of  the  most  wise  selecting?  Was  their  sys- 
tem of  tactics  the  most  judicious?  It  seems  to  me  it  was 
not. 

Too  much  denunciation  against  dram-sellers  and  dram- 
drinkers  was  indulged  in.  This,  I  think,  was  both  im- 
politic, and  unjust:  It  was  impolitic,  because  it  is  not 
much  in  the  nature  of  man  to  be  driven  to  any  thing,  still 
less  to  be  driven  about  that  which  is  exclusively  his  own 
business;  and  least  of  all,  where  such  driving  is  to  be 
submitted  to  at  the  expense  of  pecuniary  interest,  or 
burning  appetite. 

When  the  dram-seller  and  drinker  were  incessanlty  told, 
not  in  the  accents  of  entreaty  and  persuasion,  diffidently 
addressed  by  erring  man  to  an  erring  brother,  but  in  the 
thundering  tones  of  anathema  and  denunciation,  with 
which  the  lordly  judge  often  groups  together  all  the 
crimes  of  the  felon's  life  and  thrusts  them  in  his  face  just 


TEMPEBANCE.  3  I  3 

ere  he  passes  sentence  of  death  upon  him,  that  they  were 
the  authors  of  all  the  vice  and  misery  and  crime  in  the 
land;  that  they  were  the  manufacturers  and  material  of 
all  the  thieves  and  robbers  and  murderers  that  infest  the 
earth;  that  their  houses  were  the  workshops  of  the  devil, 
and  that  their  persons  should  be  shunned  by  all  the  good 
and  virtuous  as  moral  pestilences. 

I  say,  when  they  were  told  all  this,  and  in  this  way,  it 
is  not  wonderful  that  they  were  slow,  very  slow,  to  ac- 
knowledge the  truth  of  such  denunciations,  and  to  join 
the  ranks  of  their  denouncers  in  a  hue  and  cry  against 
themselves. 

To  have  expected  them  to  do  otherwise  than  they  did 
— to  have  expected  them  not  to  meet  denunciation  with 
denunciation,  crimination  with  crimination,  and  anathe- 
ma with  anathema — was  to  expect  a  reversal  of  human 
nature,  which  is  God's  decree,  and  can  never  be 
reversed. 

When  the  conduct  of  men  is  designed  to  be  influenced 
persuasion,  kind,  unassuming  persuasion,  should  ever  be 
adopted.  It  is  an  old  and  a  true  maxim,  "that  a  drop 
of  honey  catches  more  flies  than  a  gallon  of  gall."  So 
with  men. 

If  you  would  win  a  man  to  your  cause,  first  convince 
him  that  you  are  his  sincere  friend.  Therein  is  a  drop 
of  honey  that  catches  his  heart;  which,  say  what  he  will, 
is  the  great  high  road  to  his  reason,  and  which,  when 
once  gained,  you  will  find  but  little  trouble  in  convincing 
his  judgment  of  the  justice  of  your  cause,  if,  indeed,  that 
cause  really  be  a  jnst  one.  On  the  contrary,  assume  to 
dictate  to  his  judgment,  or  to  command  his  action,  or  to 


3  14  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

mark  him  as  one  to  be  shunned  and  despised,  and  he 
will  retreat  within  himself,  close  all  the  avenues  to  his 
head  and  his  heart,  and  though  your  cause  be  the 
naked  truth  itself,  transformed  to  the  heaviest  lance, 
harder  than  steel,  and  sharper  than  steel  can  be  made, 
and  though  you  throw  it  with  more  than  herculean 
force  and  precision,  you  shall  be  no  more  able  to  pierce 
him  than  to  penetrate  the  hard  shell  of  a  tortoise  with 
a  rye  straw.  Such  is  man,  and  so  must  he  be  under- 
stood by  those  who  would  lead  him,  even  to  his  own 
best  interest. 

On  this  point  the  "YVashingtonians  greatly  excel  the 
temperance  advocates  of  former  times.  Those  whom 
they  desire  to  convince  and  persuade  are  their  old 
friends  and  companions.  They  know  they  are  not  de. 
mons,  not  even  the  worst  of  men;  they  know  that  gen- 
erally they  are  kind,  generous  and  charitable,  even  be- 
yond the  example  of  their  more  staid  and  sober  neigh- 
bors. They  are  practical  philanthropists;  and  they 
glow  with  a  generous  and  brotherly  zeal,  that  mere 
theorizers  are  incapable  of  feeling.  Benevolence  and 
charity  possess  their  hearts  entirely;  and  out  of  the 
abundance  of  their  hearts  their  tongues  give  utterance: 
"Love  through  all  their  actions  run,  and  all  their 
words  are  mild;"  in  this  spirit  they  speak  and  act, 
and  in  the  same  they  are  heard  and  regarded.  And 
when  such  is  the  temper  of  the  advovate,  and  such  of 
the  audience,  no  good  cause  can  be  unsuccessful.  But 
I  have  said  that  denunciations  against  dram-sellers  and 
dram-drinkers  are  unjust  as  well  as  impolitic.  Let  us 
see. 


TEMPERANCE.  315 

I  have  not  inquired  at  what  period  of  time  the  use 
of  intoxicating  liquors  commenced,  nor  is  it  important 
to  know.  It  is  sufficient  that  to  all  of  us  who  now 
inhabit  the  world  the  practice  of  drinking  them  is  just 
as  old  as  the  world  itself — that  is,  we  have  seen  the 
one  just  as  long  as  we  have  seen  the  other.  When 
all  such  of  us  have  now  reached  the  years  of  maturity 
first  opened  our  eyes  upon  the  stage  of  existence  we 
found  intoxicating  liquors  recognized  by  everybody,  used 
by  everybody,  repudiated  by  nobody.  It  commonly  en- 
tered into  the  first  draught  of  the  infant  and  the  last  of 
the  dying  man. 

From  the  sideboard  of  the  parson  down  to  the  ragged 
pocket  of  the  homeless  loafer  it  was  constantly  found . 
Physicians  prescribed  it  in  this,  that,  and  the  other  dis- 
ease; Government  provided  it  for  soldiers  and  sailors;  and 
to  have  a  rolling  or  raising,  a  husking  or  hoe-down  any- 
where about  without  it  was  positively  insufferable. 

So,  too,  it  was  everywhere  a  respectable  article  of  man- 
ufacture and  of  merchandise.  The  making  of  it  was  re- 
garded as  an  honorable  livelihood,  and  he  who  could  make 
most  was  the  most  enterprising  and  respectable. 
Manufactories  of  it  were  everywhere  erected,  in  which  all 
the  earthly  goods  of  their  owners  were  invested.  Wagons 
drew  it  from  town  to  town,  boats  bore  it  from  clime  to 
clime,  and  the  winds  wafted  it  from  nation  to  nation;  and 
merchants  bought  and  sold  it  by  wholesale  and  retail  with 
precisely  the  same  feelings  on  the  part  ®f  the  seller,  buyer, 
and  by-stander  as  are  felt  at  the  selling  and  buying  of  plows 
beef,  bacon,  or  any  other  of  the  real  necessaries  of  life. 
Universal  public  opinion  not  only  tolerated  but  recognized 
and  adopted  its  use. 


316  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

It  is  true  that  even  then  it  was  known  and  acknow- 
ledged that  many  were  greatly  injured  by  it;  but  none 
seemed  to  think  that  the  injury  arose  from  the  use  of  a 
bad  thing,  but  from  the  abuse  of  a  very  good  thing.  The 
victims  of  it  were  to  be  pitied  and  compassionated,  just 
as  are  the  heirs  of  consumption  and  other  hereditary  dis- 
eases. The  failing  was  treated  as  a  misfortune,  and  not 
as  a  crime. 

If  then  what  I  have  been  saying  is  true,  is  it  wonderful 
that  some  should  think  and  act  now  as  all  thought  and 
acted  twenty  years  ago;  and  is  it  just  to  assail,  condemn, 
or  despise  them  for  doing  so?  The  universal  sense  of 
mankind,  on  any  subject,  is  an  argument,  or  at  least  an 
influence  not  easily  overcome. 

The  success  of  the  argument  in  favor  of  the  existence 
of  an  overruling  Providence  mainly  depends  upon  that 
sense;  and  men  ought  not,  injustice,  be  denounced  for 
yielding  to  it  in  any  case,  or  giving  it  up  slowly,  especially 
when  they  are  backed  by  interest,  fixed  habits,  or  burn- 
ing appetites. 

Another  error,  as  it  seems  to  me,  into  which  the  old 
reformers  fell,  was  the  position  that  all  habitual  drunk- 
ards were  utterly  incorrigible,  and  therefore  must  be 
turned  adrift  and  damned  without  remedy,  in  order  that 
the  grace  of  temperance  might  abound,  to  the  temperate 
then,  and  to  all  mandkind  some  hundreds  of  years  there- 
after. 

• 

There  is  in  this  something  so  repugnant  to  humanity, 
so  uncharitable,  so  cold-blooded  and  feelingless,  that  it 
never  did,  nor  never  can,  enlist  the  enthusiasm  of  a  pop- 
ular cause.      We  could  not  love  the  man  who  taught  it — 


TEMPERANCE.  3  I  7 

we  could  not  hear  him  with  patience.  The  heart 
could  not  throw  open  its  portals  to  it;  the  generous  man 
could  not  adopt  it:  it  could  not  mix  with  his  blood.  It 
looked  so  fiendishly  selfish,  so  like  throwing  fathers  and 
brothers  overboard  to  lighten  the  boat  for  our  security, 
that  the  noble  minded  shrank  from  the  manifest  mean- 
ness of  the  thing:  And  besides  this,  the  benefits  of  a 
reformation  to  be  effected  by  such  a  system  were  too  re- 
mote in  point  of  time  to  warmly  engage  many  in  its 
behalf. 

Few  can  be  induced  to  labor  exclusively  for  posterity, 
and  none  will  do  it  enthusiastically.  Posterity  has  done 
nothing  for  us;  and  theorize  on  it  as  we  may,  practically 
we  shall  do  very  little  for  it  unless  we  are  made  to  think 
we  are,  at  the  same  time,  doing  something  for  ourselves. 

What  an  ignorance  of  human  nature  does  it  exhibit  to 
ask  or  expect  a  whole  community  to  rise  up  and  labor 
for  the  temporal  happiness  of  others,  after  themselves 
shall  be  consigned  to  the  dust,  a  majority  of  which  com- 
munity take  no  pains  whatever  to  secure  their  own  eter- 
nal welfare  at  no  greater  distant  day.  Great  distance  in 
either  time  or  space  has  wonderful  power  to  lull  and  ren- 
der quiescent  the  human  mind.  Pleasures  to  be  enjoyed, 
or  pains  to  be  endured,  after  we  shall  be  dead  and  gone, 
are  but  little  regarded,  even  in  our  own  cases,  and  much 
less  in  the  cases  of  others. 

Still,  in  addition  to  this,  there  is  something  so  ludicrous 
in  promises  of  good  or  threats  of  evil  a  great  way  off,  as 
to  render  the  whole  subject  with  which  they  are  con- 
nected easily  turned  into  ridicule.  "Better  lay  down 
that  spade  you're  stealing,  Paddy — if  you  don't  you'll  pay 
for  it  at  the  day  of  judgment."     "Be  the  powers,  if  ye'll 


3 1 8  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

credit  me  so  long,  I'll  take  another  jist." 

By  the  Washingtonians  this  system  of  consigning  the 
habitual  drunkard  to  hopeless  ruin  is  repudiated.  They 
adopt  a  more  enlarged  philanthropy.  They  go  for  pres- 
sent  as  well  as  future  .good.  They  labor  for  all  now  liv- 
ing, as  well  as  hereafter  to  live.  They  teach  hope  to  all 
— despair  to  none.  As  applying  to  their  cause,  they 
deny  the  doctrine  of  unpardonable  sin.  As  in  Christi- 
anity it  is  taught,  so  in  this  they  teach: 

"While  the  lamp  holds  out  to  burn, 
The  vilest  sinner  may  return." 

And,  what  is  a  matter  of  the  most  profound  congratula- 
tions, they,  by  experiment  upon  experiment  and  ex- 
ample upon  example,  prove  the  maxim  to  be  no  less  true 
in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other.  On  every  hand  we 
behold  those  who  but  yesterday  were  the  chief  of  sinners, 
now  the  chief  apostles  of  the  cause.  Drunken  devils  are 
cast  out  by  ones,  by  sevens,  by  legions,  and  their  un- 
fortunate victims,  like  the  poor  possessed  who  was  re- 
deemed from  his  long  and  lonely  wanderings  in  the 
tombs,  are  publishing  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  how  great 
things  have  been  done  for  them. 

To  these  new  champions  and  this  new  system  of  tac- 
tics our  late  success  is  mainly  owing,  and  to  them  we 
must  mainly  look  for  the  final  consummation.  The  ball 
is  now  rolling  gloriously  on,  and  none  are  so  able  as  they 
to  increase  its  speed  and  its  bulk,  to  add  to  its  momen- 
tum and  magnitude,  even  though  unlearned  in  letters,  for 
this  task  none  are  so  well  educated.  To  fit  them  for  this 
work  they  have  been  taught  in  the  true  school.  They 
have  been  in  that  gulf  from  which  they  would  teach 
others    the    means  of    escape.      They  have  passed    that 


320  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

prison  wall  which  others  have  long  declared  impassable, 
and  who  that  has  not  shall  dare  to  weigh  opinions  with 
them  as  to  the  mode  of  passing  ? 

But  if  it  be  true,  as  I  have  insisted,  that  those  who 
have  suffered  by  intemperance  personally  and  have  re- 
formed are  the  most  powerful  and  efficient  instruments  to 
push  the  reformation  to  ultimate  success,  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  those  who  have  not  suffered  have  no  part  left 
them  to  perform.  .Whether  or  not  the  world  would  be 
vastly  benefited  by  a  total  and  final  banishment  from  it 
of  all  intoxicating  drinks  seems  to  me  not  now  an  open 
question.  Three-fourths  of  mankind  confess  the  affirma- 
tive with  their  tongues,  and  I  believe  all  the  rest  ac- 
knowledge it  in  their  hearts. 

Ought  any,  then,  to  refuse  their  aid  in  doing  what  the 
good  of  the  whole  demands  ?  Shall  he  who  cannot  do 
much  be  for  that  reason  excused  if  he  do  nothing  ? 
"But,"  says  one,  "what  good  can  I  do  by  signing  the 
pledge?  I  never  drink,  even  without  signing."  This 
question  has  already  been  asked  and  answered  more  than 
a  million  of  times.  Let  it  be  answered  once  more.  For 
the  man,  suddenly  or  in  any  other  way,  to  break  off  from 
the  use  of  drams  who  has  indulged  in  them  for  a  long 
course  of  years,  and  until  his  appetite  for  them  has  grown 
ten  or  a  hundred,  fold  stronger  and  more  craving  than  any 
natural  appetite  can  be,  requires  a  most  powerful  moral 
•  effort.  In  such  an  undertaking  he  needs  every  moral 
support  and  influence  that  can  possibly  be  brought  to  his 
aid  and  thrown  around  him.  And  not  only  so,  but  every 
moral  prop  should  be  taken  from  whatever  argument 
might  rise  in  his  mind  to  lure  him  to  his  backsliding. 
When  he  casts  his  eyes  around  him   he  should  be  able  to 


TEMPERANCE.  32  1 

see  all  that  he  respects,  all  that  he  admires,  all  that  he 
loves,  kindly  and  anxiously  pointing  him  onward,  and 
none  beckoning  him  back  to  his  former  miserable  "wal- 
lowing in  the  mire." 

But  it  is  said  by  some  that  men  will  think  and  act  for 
themselves;  that  none  will  disuse  spirits  or  any  thing 
else  because  his  neighbors  do;  and  that  moral  influence  is 
not  that  powerful  engine  contended  for.  Let  us  examine 
this.  Let  me  ask  the  man  who  could  maintain  this  posi- 
tion most  stiffly  what  compensation  he  will  accept  to  go 
to  church  some  Sunday  and  sit  during  the  sermon  with 
his  wife's  bonnet  upon  his  head  ?  Not  a  trifle,  I'll  ven- 
ture. And  why  not  ?  There  would  be  nothing  irreligi- 
ous in  it,  nothing  immoral,  nothing  uncomfortable — then 
why  not  ?  Is  it  not  because  there  would  be  something 
egregiously  unfashionable  in  it  ?  Then  it  is  the  influence 
of  fashion;  and  what  is  the  influence  of  fashion  but  the 
influence  that  other  people's  actions  have  on  our  own  ac- 
tions— the  strong  inclination  each  of  us  feels  to  do  as  we 
see  all  our  neighbors  do  ?  Nor  is  the  influence  of  fashion 
confined  to  any  particular  thing  or  class  of  things.  It  is 
just  as  strong  on  one  subject  as  another.  Let  us  make 
it  as  unfashionable  to  withhold  our  names  from  the  tem- 
perance pledge  as  for  husbands  to  wear  their  wives'  bon- 
nets to  church,  and  instances  will  be  just  as  rare  in  the 
one  case  as  the  other. 

"But,"  say  some,  "we  are  no  drunkards,  and  we  shall 
not  acknowledge  ourselves  such  by  joining  a  reformed 
drunkard's  society,  whatever  our  influence  might  be." 
Surely  no  Christian  will  adhere  to  this  objection. 

If  they  believe  as  they  profess,  that  Omnipotence  con- 


322  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

descended  to  take  on  Himself  the  form  of  sinful  man, 
and  as  such  to  die  an  ignominious  death  for  their  sakes, 
surely  they  will  not  refuse  submission  to  the  infinitely 
lesser  condescension  for  the  temporal  and  perhaps  eter- 
nal salvation  of  a  large,  erring,  and  unfortunate  class  of 
their  fellow  creatures.  Nor  is  the  condescension  very 
great.  In  my  judgment  such  of  us  as  have  never  fallen 
victims  have  been  spared  more  from  the  absence  of  appe- 
tite than  from  any  mental  or  moral  superiority  over  those 
who  have.  Indeed,  I  believe,  if  we  take  habitual  drunk- 
ards as  a  class,  their  heads  and  their  hearts  will  bear  an 
advantageous  comparison  with  those  of  any  other  class. 
There  seems  ever  to  have  been  a  proneness  in  the 
brilliant  and  warm-blooded  to  fall  into  this  vice — the  de- 
mon of  intemperance  ever  seems  to  have  delighted  in 
sucking  the  blood  of  genius  and  generosity.  What  one 
of  us  but  can  call  to  mind  some  relative  more  promising 
in  youth  than  all  his  fellows  who  has  fallen  a  sacrifice  to 
his  rapacity  ?  He  ever  seems  to  have  gone  forth  like  the 
Egyptian  angel  of  death,  commissioned  to  slay,  if  not  the 
first,  the  fairest  born  of  even'  family.  Shall  he  now  be 
arrested  in  his  desolating  career  ?  In  that  arrest  all  can 
give  aid  that  will,  and  who  shall  be  excused  that  can  and 
will  not  ?  Far  around  as  human  breath  has  ever  blown, 
he  keeps  our  fathers,  our  brothers,  our  sons,  and  our 
friends  prostrate  in  the  chains  of  moral  death.  To  all 
the  living  everywhere  we  cry:  '  'Come,  sound  the  moral 
trump,  that  these  may  rise  and  stand  up  an  exceeding 
great  army."  "Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath ! 
and  breathe  upon  these  slain,  that  they  may  live."  If 
the  relative  grandeur  of  revolutions  shall  be  estimated 
by  the  great  amount  of  human  misery  they  alleviate,  and 


THE  WATTING  WIFE. 


324  LINCOLN'S  'STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

the  small    amount    they  inflict,  then,  indeed,  will  this  be 
the  grandest  the  world  shall  ever  have  seen. 

Of  our  political  revolution  of  1776  we  are  all  justly 
proud .  It  has  given  us  a  degree  of  political  freedom  far 
exceeding  that  of  any  other  nations  of  the  earth.  In  it 
the  world  has  found  a  solution  of  the  long-mooted 
problem  as  to  the  capability  of  man  to  govern  himself. 
In  it  was  the  germ  which  has  vegetated,  and  still  is  to 
grow  and   expand  into    the  universal  liberty  of  mankind. 

But  with  all  these  glorious  results,  past,  present,  and 
to  come,  it  had  its  evils  too.  It  breathed  forth  famine, 
swam  in  blood,  and  rode  in  fire;  and  long,  long  after,  the 
orphans'  cry  and  the  widows'  wail  continued  to  break  the 
sad  silence  that  ensued.  These  were  the  price,  the  in- 
evitable price,  paid  for  the  blessings  it  bought. 

Turn  now  to  the  temperance  revolution.  In  it  we 
shall  And  a  stronger  bondage  broken,  a  viler  slavery 
manumitted,  a  greater  tyrant  deposed — in  it,  more  of 
want,  supplied,  more  disease  healed,  more  sorrow  as- 
suaged. By  it,  no  orphans  starving,  no  widows  weep- 
ing; bv  it,  none  wounded  in  feeling,  none  injured  in  in- 
terest. Even  the  dram-maker  and  dram- seller  will  have 
glided  into  other  occupations  so  gradually  as  never  to 
have  felt  the  change,  and  will  stand  ready  to  join  all 
others  in  the  universal  song  of  gladness.  And  what  a 
noble  ally  this  to  the  cause  of  political  freedom;  with 
such  an  aid,  its  march  cannot  fail  to  be  on  and  on,  till 
every  son  of  earth  shall  drink  in  rich  fruition  the  sorrow- 
quenching  draughts  of  perfect  liberty  !  Happy  day, 
when,  all  appetities  controlled,  all  passions  subdued,  all 
matter  subjugated,  mind,  all-conquering  mind,  shall  live 
and    move,  the    monarch   of  the  world  !     Glorious    con- 


TEMPERANCE.  325 

summation!     Hail,  fall  of   fury!      Reign   of    reason,  all 
hail! 

And  when  the  victory  shall  be  complete  -when  there 
shall  be  neither  a  slave  nor  a  drunkard  on  the  earth — how 
proud  the  title  of  that  Land,  which  may  truly  claim  to  be 
the  birthplace  and  the  cradle  of  both  those  revolutions 
that  shall  have  ended  in  that  victory.  How  nobly  dis- 
tinguished that  people  who  shall  have  planted  and  nur- 
tured to  maturity  both  the  political  and  moral  freedom 
of  their  species. 

This  is  the  one  hundred  and  tenth  anniversary  of  the 
birthday  of  Washington.  We  are  met  to  celebrate  this 
da)'.  Washington  is  the  mightiest  name  of  earth — long 
since  mightiest  in  the  cause  of  civil  liberty,  still  mightiest 
in  moral  reformation.  On  that  name  a  eulogy  is  expected. 
It  cannot  be.  To  add  brightness  to  the  sun  or  glory  to  the 
name  of  Washington  is  alike  impossible.  Let  none  at- 
tempt it.  In  solemn  awe  pronounce  the  name,  and  in 
its  naked,  deathless  splendor  leave  it  shining  on. 


326  LINCOLNS'    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 


A  GREAT  CONGRESSIONAL  SPEECH. 

Abraham  Lincoln  on  the  Presidency   and  Gen- 
eral Politics. 

Deliveied   in  the    House  of    Representatives,    Washington,    D.    C,  July 

27,    1848. 

Mr.  Speaker: — Our  Democratic  friends  seem  to  be 
in  great  distress  because  they  think  our  candidate  for  the 
Presidency  don't  suit  us.  Most  of  them  can  not  find  out 
that  General  Taylor  has  any  principles  at  all,  some,  how- 
ever, have  discovered  that  he  has  one,  but  that  one  is  en- 
tirely wrong.  This  one  principle  is  his  position  on  the 
veto  power. 

The  gentleman  from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Stanton),  who 
has  just  taken  his  seat,  indeed,  has  said  there  is  very 
little  if  any  difference,  on  this  question  between  General 
Taylor  and  all  the  Presidents;  and  he  seems  to  think  it 
sufficient  detraction  from  General  Taylor's  position  on  it, 
that  it  has  nothing  new  in  it.  But  all  others,  whom  I 
have  heard  speak,  assail  it  furiously. 

A  new  member  from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Clarke),  of  very 
considerable  ability,  was  in  particular  concern  about  it . 
He  thought  it  altogether  novel  and  unprecedented  for  a 
President,  or  a  Presidential  candidate,  to  think  of  ap- 
proving bills  whose  Constitutionality  may  not  be  entirely 


POLITICS.  327 

clear  to  his  own  mind.  He  thinks  the  ark  of  our  safety 
is  gone,  unless  Presidents  shall  always  veto  such  bills  as, 
in  their  judgment,  may  be  of  doubtful  Constitutionality. 
However  clear  Congress  may  be  of  their  authority  to  pass 
any  particular  act,  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  thinks 
the  President  must  veto  if  he  has  doubts  about  it. 

Now  I  have  neither  time  nor  inclination  to  argue  with 
the  gentleman  on  the  veto  power  as  an  original  question; 
but  I  wish  to  show  that  General  Taylor,  and  not  he, 
agrees  with  the  earliest  statesmen  on  this  question. 
When  the  bill  chartering  the  first  Bank  oj  the  United 
States  passed  Congress,  its  Constitutionality  was  ques- 
tioned; Mr.  Madison,  then  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, as  well  as  others,  opposed  it  on  that  ground.  Gen- 
eral Washington,  as  President,  was  called  on  to  approve 
or  reject  it.  He  sought  and  obtained,  on  the  Constitu- 
tional question,  the  separate  written  opinion  of  Jefferson, 
Hamilton  and  Edmund  Randolph,  they  then  being  re- 
spectively Secretary  of  State,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  Attorney  General.  Hamilton's  opinion  was  for  the 
power;  while  Randolph's  and  Jefferson's  were  both 
against  it.  Mr.  Jefferson,  after  giving  his  opinion  de- 
cidedly against  the  Constitutionality  of  that  bill,  closed 
his  letter  with  the  paragraph  I  now  read: 

"It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  unless  the  Presi- 
dent's mind,  on  a  view  of  everything  which  is  urged  for 
and  against  this  bill,  is  tolerably  clear  that  it  is  unau- 
thorized by  the  Constitution,  if  the  pro  and  the  con  hang 
so  even  as  to  balance  his  judgment,  a  just  respect  for  the 
wisdom  of  the  Legislature  would  naturally  decide  the 
balance  in  favor  of  their  opinion;  it  is  chiefly  for  cases 
where  they  are  clearly  misled  by  error,  ambition  or  inter- 


328  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

est,  that  the  Constitution  has  placed  a  check  in  the  nega- 
tive of  the  President.  Thomas  Jefferson. 

"February  15,  1 791 . " 

Gen.  Taylor's  opinion,  as  expressed  in  his  Allison  let- 
ter, is  as  I  now  read: 

'  'The  power  given  by  the  veto  is  a  high  conservative 
power;  but,  in  my  opinion,  should  never  be  exercised,  ex- 
cept in  cases  of  clear  violation  of  the  Constitution,  or 
manifest  haste  and  want  of  consideration   by  Congress." 

It  is  here  seen  that,  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion,  if  on  the 
Constitutionality  of  any  given  bill,  the  President  doubts, 
he  is  not  to  veto  it,  as  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky 
would  have  him  to  do,  but  is  to  defer  to  Congress  and 
approve  it.  And  if  we  compare  the  opinions  of  Jefferson 
and  Taylor,  as  expressed  in  these  paragraphs,  we  shall 
find  them  more  exactly  alike  than  we  can  often  find  any 
two  expressions  having  any  literal  difference .  None  but 
interested  fault-finders  can  discover  any  substantial  varia- 
tion. 

THE    NATIONAL    ISSUE. 

But  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  are  unanimously 
agreed  that  General  Taylor  has  no  other  principle.  They 
are  in  utter  darkness  as  to  his  opinions  on  anv  of  the 
questions  of  policy  which  occupy  the  public  attention. 
But  is  there  any  doubt  as  to  what  he  will  do  on  the  prom- 
inent questions,  if  elected  ?  Not  the  least.  It  is  not 
possible  to  know  what  he  will,  or  would  do  in  every  im- 
aginable case;  because  many  questions  have  passed 
away,  and  others  doubtless  will  arise  which  none  of  us 
have  yet  thought  of;  but  on  the  prominent  questions  of 
currency,  tariff,  internal  improvements,  and  Wilmot  pro- 
viso, General  Taylor's  course  is  at  least  as  well  defined  as 


POLITICS.  329 

is  General  Cass.  Why,  in  their  eagerness  to  get  at  Gen- 
eral Taylor,  several  Democratic  members  here  have  de- 
sired to  know  whether,  in  case  of  his  election,  a  bank- 
rupt law  is  to  be  established.  Can  they  tell  us  General 
Cass'  opinion  on  this  question  ?  (Some  member  an- 
swered: "He's  against  it.")  Aye,  how  do  you  know  he 
is  ?  There  is  nothing  about  it  in  the  platform,  or  else- 
where, that  I  have  seen.  If  the  gentleman  knows  any- 
thing which  I  do  not,  he  can  show  it.  But  to  return: 
General  Taylor,  in  his  Allisan  letter,  says: 

"Upon  the  subject  of  the  tariff,  the  currency,  the  im- 
provement of  our  great  highways,  rivers,  lakes,  and  har- 
bors, the  will  of  the  people,  as  expressed  through  their 
Representatives  in  Congress,  ought  to  be  respected  and 
carried  out  by  the  Executive." 

A  PRESIDENCY  FOR  THE  PEOPLE. 

Now,  this  is  the  whole  matter — in  substance  it  is  this: 
The  people  say  to  General  Taylor: 

"If  you  are  elected,  shall  we  have  a  National  Bank  ?" 

He  answers:      "Your  will,  gentlemen,  not  mine." 

'  'What  about  the  tariff  ?" 

"Say  yourselves." 

"Shall  our  rivers  and  harbors  be  improved  ?" 

"Just  as  you  please.  If  you  desire  a  bank,  an  altera- 
tion of  the  tariff,  internal  improvements,  any  or  all,  I 
will  not  hinder  you.  Send  up  your  members  to  Con- 
gress from  the  various  districts,  with  opinions  according 
to  your  own,  and  if  they  are  for  these  measures,  or  any  of 
them,  I  shall  have  nothing  to  oppose;  if  they  are  not  for 
them,  I  shall  not,  by  any  appliance  whatever,  attempt  to 
dragoon  them  into  their  adoption. " 


330  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

Now  can  there  be  any  difficulty  in  understanding  this  ? 
To  you,  Democrats,  it  may  not  seem  like  principle;  but 
surely  you  can  not  fail  to  perceive  the  position  plainly 
enough.  The  distinction  between  it  and  the  position  of 
your  candidate  is  broad  and  obvious,  and  I  admit  you 
have  a  clear  right  to  show  it  is  wrong,  if  you  can;  but  you 
have  no  right  to  pretend  you  cannot  see  it  at  all.  We 
see  it,  and  to  us  it  appears  like  principle,  and  the  best 
sort  of  principle  at  that — the  principle  of  allowing  the 
people  to  do  as  they  please  with  their  own  business. 

My  friend  from  Indiana  (Mr.  C.  B.  Smith)  has  aptly 
asked:  "Are  you  willing  to  trust  the  people  !"  Some  of 
of  you  answered,  substantially:  "We  are  willing  to 
trust  the  people;  but  the  President  is  as  much  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  people  as  Congress."  In  a  certain  sense, 
and  to  a  certain  extent,  he  is  the  representative  of  the 
people.  He  is  elected  by  them,  as  well  as  Congress  is. 
But  can  he,  in  the  nature  of  things,  know  the  wants  of 
the  people  as  well  as  three  hundred  other  men  coming 
from  all  the  various  localities  of  the  nation  ?  If  so, 
where  is  the  propriety  of  having  a  Congress  ?  That  the 
Constitution  gives  the  President  a  negative  on  legislation 
all  know;  but  that  this  negative  should  be  so  combined 
with  platforms  and  other  appliances  as  to  enable  him, 
and  in  fact,  almost  compel  him,  to  take  the  whole  of 
legislation  into  his  own  hands,  is  what  we  object  to — is 
what  General  Taylor  objects  to — and  is  what  ccnstitutes 
the  broad  distinction  between  you  and  us.  To  thus  trans- 
fer legislation  is  clearly  to  take  it  from  those  who  under- 
stand with  minuteness  the  interest  of  the  people,  and 
give  it  to  one  who  does  not  and  cannot  so  well  under- 
stand it. 


POLITICS.  331 

I  understand  your  idea,  that  if  a  Presidential  candidate 
avow  his  opinion  upon  a  given  question,  or  rather  upon 
all  questions,  and  the  people,  with  full  knowledge  of  this, 
elect   him,    they    thereby    distinctly    approve  all    those 
opinions.      This,  though  plausible,  is  a  most    pernicious 
deception,       By  means  of  it  measures  are  adopted  or  re- 
jected, contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  whole  of  one  party, . 
and  often  nearly  half  of  the  other.     The  process  is  this 
Three,  four,  or  -a  half  dozen  questions  are  prominent  at 
a  given  time;  the  party  selects  its  candidate,  and  betakes 
his  position  on  each  of  these  questions.      On  all  but  one 
of    his  positions  have   already  been    indorsed   at    former 
elections,    and  his    party  fully  committed  to    them ;  but 
that  one  is  new,  and  a  large  portion  of  them  are  against 
it.      But  what  are  they  to  do  ?     The  whole  are  strung  to- 
gether, and  they  must  take  all  or    reject  all.     They  can 
not  take  what  they  like  and  leave  the  rest.      What  they 
are  already  committed  to,  being  the  majority,  they  shut 
their  eyes   and  gulp  the  whole.      Next  election  still    an- 
other is  introduced  in  the  same  way. 

If  we  rnn  our  eyes  along  the  line  of  the  past,  we  shall 
see  that  almost,  if  not  quite,  all  the  articles  of  the  present 
Democratic  creed  have  been  at  first  forced  upon  the  party 
in  this  very  way.  And  just  now,  and  just  so,  opposition 
to  internal  improvements  is  to  be  established  if  General 
Cass  shall  be  elected.  Almost  half  the  Democrats  here 
are  for  improvements,  but  they  will  vote  for  Cass,  and  if 
if  he  succeeds,  their  votes  will  have  aided  in  closing  the 
doors  against  improvements.  Now,  this  is  a  process 
which  we  think  is  wrong.  We  prefer  a  candidate  who, 
like  General  Taylor,  will  allow  the  people  to  have  their 
own  way  regardless   of  his  private  opinion;   and  I  should 


332  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

think  the  internal-improvement  Democrats  at  least,  ought 
to  prefer  such  a  candidate.  He  would  force  nothing  on 
them  which  they  don't  want,  and  he  would  allow  them 
to  have  improvements,  which  their  own  candidate,  if 
elected,  will  not. 

GEN  TAYLOR  AND  THE  WILMOT  PROVISO. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  said  that  General  Taylor's  position 
is  as  well  defined  as  is  that  of  General  Cass.  In  saying 
this,  I  admit  I  do  not  certainly  know  what  he  would  do 
on  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  I  am  a  Northern  man,  or 
rather  a  Western  free  State  man,  with  a  consituency  I 
believe  to  be,  and  with  personal  feelings  I  know  to  be, 
against  the  extension  of  slavery.  As  such,  and  with 
what  information  I  have,  I  hope,  and  believe,  General 
Taylor,  if  elected,  would  not  veto  the  proviso,  but  I  do 
not  know  it.  Yet,  if  I  knew  he  would  I  still  would  vote 
for  him.  I  should  do  so,  because  in  my  judgment  his 
election  alone  can  defeat  General  Cass;  and  because 
should  slavery  thereby  go  into  the  territory  we  now  have, 
just  so  much  will  certainly  happen  by  the  election  of 
Cass;  and  in  addition,  a  course  of  policy  leading  to  new 
wars,  new  acquisitions  of  territory,  and  still  further  ex- 
tension of  slavery.  One  of  the  two  is  to  be  President- 
which  is  preferable  ? 

But  there  is  as  much  doubt  about  of  Cass  on  improve- 
ments as  there  is  of  Taylor  on  the  proviso.  I  have  no 
doubt  of  General  Cass  on  this  question,  but  I  know  the 
Democrats  differ  among  themselves  as  to  his  position. 
My  internal  improvement  colleague  (Mr.  Wentworth) 
stated  on  this  floor  the  other  day,  that  he  was  satisfied 
Cass  was  for  improvements,  because  he  had  voted  for  all 


politics.  333 

the  bills  that  he  (Mr.  W.)  had.  So  far  so  good.  But 
Mr.  Polk  vetoed  some  of  these  very  bills;  the  Baltimore 
Convention  passed  a  set  of  resolutions,  among  other 
things,  approving  these  vetoes,  and  Cass  declares  in  his 
letter  accepting  the  nomination,  that  he  has  carefully 
read  these  resolutions,  and  that  he  adheres  to  them  as 
firmly  as  he  approves  them  cordially.  In  other  words, 
General  Cass  voted  for  the  bills,  and  thinks  the  Presi- 
dent did  right  to  veto  them;  and  his  friends  here  are 
amiable  enough  to  consider  him  as  being  on  one  side  or 
the  other,  just  as  one  or  the  other  may  correspond  with 
their  own  respective  inclinations. 

My  colleague  admits  that  the  platform  declares  against 
the  Constitutionality  of  a  general  system  of  improve- 
ments, and  that  General  Cass  indorses  the  platform;  but 
he  still  thinks  General  Cass  is  in  favor  of  some  sort  of  im- 
provements. Well,  what  are  they  ?  As  he  is  against 
general  objects,  those  he  is  for  must  be  particular  and 
local.  Now,  this  is  taking  the  subject  precisely  by  the 
wrong  end.  Particularity — expending  the  money  of  the 
whole  people  for  an  object  which  will  benefit  only  a  por- 
tion of  them,  is  the  greatest  objection  to  improvements, 
and  has  been  so  held  by  General  Jackson,  Mr.  Polk,  and 
all  others,  I  believe,  till  now.  But  now  behold,  the  ob- 
jects most  general,  nearest  free  from  this  objection,  are 
to  be  rejected,  while  those  most  liable  to  it  are  to  be 
embraced.  To  return:  I  cannot  help  believing  that 
General  Cass,  when  he  wrote  his  letter  of  acceptance, 
well  understood  he  was  to  be  claimed  by  the  advocates 
of  both  sides  of  this  question,  and  that  he  then  closed  the 
doors  against  all  further  expressions  of  opinion,  purpose- 
ly  to  retain    the  benefits  of    that  double    position.      His 


334  LINCOLN'S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

subsequent    equivocation   at    Cleveland,    to     my    mind, 
proves  such  to  have  been  the  case. 

PLATFORMS. 

One  word  more,  and  I  shall  have  done  with  this  branch 
of  the  subject.  You  Democrats,  and  your  candidate,  in 
the  main  are  in  favor  of  laying  down,  in  advance,  a  plat- 
form— a  set  of  party  positions,  as  a  unit;  and  then  of  en- 
forcing the  people,  by  every  sort  of  appliance,  to  ratify 
them,  however  unpalatable  some  of  them  may  be.  We, 
and  our  candidate,  are  in  favor  of  making  Presidential 
elections  and  the  legislation  of  the  country  distinct  mat- 
ters; so  that  the  people  can  elect  whom  they  please,  and 
afterward  legislate  just  as  they  please,  without  any  hin- 
drance, save  only  so  much  as  may  guard  against  infrac- 
tions of  the  Constitution,  undue  haste,  and  want  of  con- 
sideration. 

The  difference  between  us  is  clear  as  noon-day.  That 
we  are  right  we  cannot  doubt.  We  hold  the  true  Re- 
publican position.  In  leaving  the  people's  business  in 
their  hands,  we  cannot  be  wrong.  We  are  willing,  and 
even  anxious,  to  go  to  the  people  on  this  issue. 

MR.    CLAY'S  DEFEAT  AND  DEMOCRATIC  SYMPATHIES. 

But  I  suppose  I  cannot  reasonably  hope  to  convince 
you  that  we  have  any  principles.  The  most  I  can  ex- 
pect is,  to  assure  you  that  w£  think  we  have,  and  are 
quite  contented  with  them. 

The  other  day,  one  of  the  gentlemen  from  Georgia 
(Mr.  Iverson),  an  eloquent  man,  and  a  man  of  learning, 
so  far  as  I  can  judge,  not  being  learned  myself,  came 
down  upon  us  astonishingly.  He  spoke  in  what  the  Bal- 
timore American  calls  the  "scathing  and  withering  style." 


politics.  335 

At  the  end  of  his  second  severe  flash  I  was  struck  blind, 
and  found  myself  feeling  with  my  fingers  for  an  assurance 
of  my  continued  physical  existence.  A  little  of  the  bone 
was  left,  and  I  gradually  revived.  He  eulogized  Mr. 
Clay  in  high  and  beautiful  terms,  and  then  declared  that 
we  had  deserted  all  our  principles,  and  had  turned  Henry 
Clay  out,  like  an  old  horse,  to  root.  This  is  terribly 
severe.  It  cannot  be  answered  by  argument;  at  least  I 
cannot  so  answer  it . 

I  merely  wish  to  ask  the  gentleman  if  the  Whigs  are  the 
only  party  he  can  think  of  who  sometimes  turn  old 
horses  out  to  root  !  Is  not  a  certain  Martin  Van  Buren 
an  old  horse,  which  your  party  turned  out  to  root  ?  and 
is  he  not  rooting  to  your  discomfort  about  now  ?  But 
in  not  nominating  Mr.  Clay,  we  deserted  our  principles, 
you  say.  Ah  !  in  what  ?  Tell  us,  ye  men  of  principle, 
what  principle  we  violated  ?  We  say  you  did  violate 
principle  in  discarding  Van  Buren,  and  we  can  tell  you 
how.  You  violated  the  primary,  the  cardinal,  the  one 
great  living  principle  of  all  Democratic  representative 
government — the  principle  that  the  representative  is 
bound  to  carry  out  the  known  will  of  his  constituents. 

A  large  majority  of  the  Baltimore  Convention  of  1844 
were,  by  their  constituents,  instructed  to  procure  Van 
Buren's  nomination  if  they  could.  In  violation,  in  utter, 
glaring  contempt  of  this,  you  rejected  him— rejected  him, 
as  the  gentleman  from  New  York  (Mr.  Birdsall),  the 
other  day,  expressly  admitted,  for  availability — that 
same  "general  availability"  which  you  charge  on  us,  and 
daily  chew  over  here,  as  something  exceedingly  odious 
and  unprincipled. 

But  the  gentleman  from    Georgia  (Mr,  Iverson),  gave 


* 

336  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

us  a  second  speech  yesterday,  all  well  considered  and  put 
down  in  writing,  in  which  Van  Buren  was  scathed  and 
withered  a  "few"  for  his  present  position  and  move- 
ments. I  can  not  remember  the  gentleman's  precise 
language,  but  I  do  remember  he  put  Van  Buren  down, 
down,  till  he  got  him  where  he  was  finally  to  '  'sink"  and 
"rot." 

Lincoln's  description  of  himself  as  a  military  hero. 

By  the  way,  Mr.  Speaker,  did  you  know  I  am  a  mili- 
tary hero  ?  Yes,  sir,  in  the  days  of  the  Black  Hawk  war 
I  fought,  bled,  and  came  away .  Speaking  of  General 
Cass'  career,  reminds  me  of  my  own.  I  was  not  at  Still- 
man's  defeat,  but  I  was  about  as  near  it  as  Cass  to  Hull's 
surrender;  and  like  him,  I  saw  the  place  very  soon  after- 
ward. It  is  quite  certain  I  did  not  break  my  sword,  for 
I  had  none  to  break;  but  I  bent  a  musket  pretty  badly  on 
one  occasion.  If  Cass  broke  his  sword,  the  idea  is,  he 
broke  it  in  desperation;  I  bent  the  musket  by  accident. 
If  General  Cass  went  in  advance  of  me  in  picking 
whortleberries,  I  guess  I  surpassed  him  in  charges  upon 
wild  onions.  If  he  saw  any  live,  fighting  Indians,  it  was 
more  than  I  did,  but  I  had  a  good  many  blood)'  struggles 
with  the  mosquitos;  and  although  I  never  fainted  from 
loss  of  blood,  I  can  truly  say  I  was  often  very  hungry. 

Mr.  Speaker,  if  I  should  ever  conclude  to  doff  what- 
ever our  Democratic  friends  may  suppose  there  is  of 
black-cockade  Federalism  about  me,  and,  thereupon, 
they  should  take  me  up  as -their  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency, I  protest  they  shall  not  make  fun  of  me  as  they 
have  of  General  Cass,  by  attempting  to  write  me  into  a 
military  hero. 


politics.  337 

cass  on  the  wilmot  proviso. 

While  I  have  General  Cass  in  hand,  I  wish  to  say  a 
word  about  his  political  principles.  As  a  specimen,  I 
take  the  record  of  his  progress  on  the  Wilmot  Proviso. 
In  the  Washington  Union,  of  March  2,  1847,  there  is  a 
report  of  the  speech  of  General  Cass,  made  the  day  be- 
fore in  the  Senate,  on  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  during  the  de- 
livery of  which  Mr.  Miller,  of  New  Jersey,  is  reported  to 
have  interrupted  him  as  follows,  to-wit: 

"Mr.  Miller  expressed  his  great  surprise  at  the  change 
in  the  sentiments  of  the  Senator  from  Michigan,  who  had 
been  regarded  as  the  great  champion  of  freedom  in  the 
Northwest,  of  which  he  was  a  distinguished  ornament. 
Last  year  the  Senator  from  Michigan  was  understood  to 
be  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Wilmost  Proviso;  and,  as  no 
reason  had  been  stated  for  the  change,  he  (Mr.  Miller) 
could  not  refrain  from  the  expression  of  his  extreme  sur- 
prise." 

To  this  General  Cass  is  reported  to  have  replied  as  fol- 
lows,  to-wit: 

Mr.  Cass  said  that  the  course  of  the  Senator  from  New 
Jersey  was  most  extraordinary.  Last  year  he  (Mr.  Cass) 
should  have  voted  for  the  proposition  had  it  come  up. 
But  circumstances  had  altogether  changed.  The  honor- 
able Senator  then  read  several  passages  from  the  remarks 
given  above,  which  he  had  committed  to  writing  in  order 
to  refute  such  a  charge  as  that  of  the  Senator  from  New 
Jersey. 

In  the  "remarks  above  committed  to  writing,"  is  one 
numbered  4,  as  follows,  to-wit  : 

"4th.     Legislation  would    now  be  wholly  imperative, 


338  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

because  no  territory  hereafter  to  be  acquired  can  be  gov- 
ered  without  an  act  of  Congress  providing  for  its  govern- 
ment. And  such  an  act,  on  its  passage,  would  open  the 
whole  subject,  and  leave  the  Congress,  called  on  to  pass 
it,  free  to  exercise  its  own  discretion,  entirely  uncon- 
trolled by  any  declaration  found  in  the  statute  book.' 

In  Niles'  Register,  vol.  73,  page  293,  there  is  a  letter 
of  General  Cass  to  A.  O.  P.  Nicholson,  of  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  dated  December  25,  1847,  from  which  the 
following  are  correct  extracts: 

The  Wilmot  Proviso  has  been  before  the  country  some 
time.  It  has  been  repeatedly  discussed  in  Congress, and 
by  the  public  press.  I  am  strongly  impressed  with  the 
opinion  that  a  great  change  has  been  going  oh  in  the 
public  mind  upon  this  subject — in  my  own  as  well  as 
others;  and  that  doubts  are  resolving  themselves  into  con- 
victions, that  the  principle  it  involves  should  be  kept  out 
of  the  National  Legislature,  and  left  to  the  people  of  the 
Confederacy  in  their  respective   local  governments. 

'  'Briefly,  then,  I  am  opposed  to  the  exercise  of  any 
jurisdiction  by  Congress  over  this  matter;  and  I  am  in 
favor  of  leaving  the  people  of  any  territory  which  may  be 
hereafter  acquired,  the  right  to  regulate  it  themselves, 
under  the  general  principles  of  the  Constitution.  Be- 
cause, 

"I  do  not  see  in  the  Constitution  any  grant  of  the  re- 
quisite power  to  Congress;  and  I  am  not  disposed  to  ex- 
tend a  doubtful  precedent  beyond  its  necessity — the  es- 
tablishment of  territorial  governments  when  needed — 
leaving  to  the  inhabitants  all  the  rights  compatible  with 
the  relations  the}-  bear  to  the  Confederation.' 


politics.  339 

an  obedient  democrat. 

These  extracts  show,  in  1846,  General  Cass  was  for  the 
Proviso  at  once;  that,  in  March,  1847,  he  was  still  for  it 
but  not  just  then;  and,  that  in  December,  1847,  against 
it  altogether.  This  is  a  true  index  to  the  whole  man. 
When  the  question  was  raised  in  1 846,  he  was  in  a  blus- 
tering hurry  to  take  ground  for  it.  He  sought  to  be  in 
advance,  and  to  avoid  the  uninteresting  position  of  a 
mere  follower;  but  soon  he  began  to  see  a  glimpse  of  the 
great  Democratic  ox-gad  waving  in  his  face,  and  to  hear 
indistinctly  a  voice  saying,  "back,  back,  sir;  back  a  lit- 
tle." He  shakes  his  head  and  bats  his  eyes,  and  blun- 
ders back  to  his  position  of  March,  1847;  and  still  the 
gad  waves  and  the  voice  grows  more  distinct,  and  sharper 
still — back,  sir  !  back,  I  say  !  further  back  !  and  back  he 
goes  to  the  position  of  December,  1847;  at  which  the 
gad  is  still,  and  the  voice  soothingly  says,  "So!  stand 
still  at  that." 

Have  no  fears,  gentlemen  of  your  candidate,  he  exact- 
ly suits  you,  and  we  congratulate  you  upon  it.  However 
much  you  may  be  distressed  about  our  candidate  you 
have  all  cause  to  be  contented  and  happy  with  your  own. 
If  elected  he  may  not  maintain  all,  or  even  any  of  his 
positions  previously  taken;  but  he  will  be  sure  to  do  what- 
ever the  party  exigency,  for  the  time  being,  may  require; 
and  that  is  precisely  what  you  want.  He  and  Van  Buren 
are  the  same  "manner  of  men;"  and  like  Van  Buren,  he 
will  never  desert  you  till  you  first  desert  him. 

WONDERFUL    PHYSICAL    CAPACITIES    OF    GENERAL   CASS. 

ButI  have  introduced  General  Cass'  accounts  here, 
chiefly  to  show  the  wonderful  physical   capacities  of  the 


34o  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

man.  They  show  that  he  not  only  did  the  labor  of  sev- 
eral men  at  the  same  time,  but  that  he  often  did  it  at  sev- 
eral places  many  hundred  miles  apart,  at  the  same  time. 
And  at  eating,  too,  his  capacities  are  shown  to  be  quite 
as  wonderful.  From  October,  1821,  to  May,  1822,  he 
ate  ten  rations  a  day  in  Michigan,  ten  rations  a  day  here 
in  Washington,  and  near  five  dollars'  worth  a  day  be- 
sides, partly  on  the  road  between  the  two  places. 

And  then  there  is  an  important  discovery  in  his  ex- 
ample— the  art  of  being  paid  for  what  one  eats,  instead 
of  having  to  pay  for  it.  Hereafter,  if  any  nice  man  shall 
owe  a  bill  which  he  can  not  pay  in  any  other  way,  he  can 
just  board  it  out. 

Mr;  Speaker,  we  have  all  heard  of  the  animal  standing 
in  doubt  between  two  stacks  of  hay,  and  starving  to 
death;  the  like  of  that  would  never  happen  to  General 
Cass.  Place  the  stacks  a  thousand  miles  apart,  he  would 
stand  stock-still,  midway  between  them,  and  eat  both  at 
once;  and  the  green  grass  along  the  line  would  be  apt  to 
suffer  some,  too,  at  the  same  time.  By  all  means,  make 
him  President,  gentlemen.  He  will  feed  you  bounteously 
— if — if  there  is  any  left  after  he  shall  have  helped  himself. 

But  as  General  Taylor,  is,  par  excellence,  the  hero  of 
the  Mexican  war;  and,  as  you  Democrats  say  we  Whigs 
have  always  opposed  the  war,  you  think  it  must  be  very 
awkward  and  embarrassing  for  us  to  go  for  General 
Taylor. 

THE    MEXICAN    WAR. 

The  declaration  that  we  have  always  opposed  the  war 
is  true  or  false  acceding  as  one  may  understand  the 
term  "opposing  the  war."     If  to  say  ''the  war  was  un- 


GEN.    TAYLOR'S    ARMY    NEAR    POPOCATAPTL,     IN    MEXICO. 

[341] 


342  LINCOLN  S    5TORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

necessarily  and  unconstitutionally  commenced  by  the 
President, "  be  opposing  the  war,  then  the  Whigs  have  very 
generally  opposed  it.  Whenever  they  have  spoken  at  all 
they  have  said  this;  and  they  have  said  it  on  what  has 
appeared  good  reason  to  them:  The  marching  of  an 
army  into  the  midst  of  a  peaceful  Mexican  settlement, 
frightning  the  inhabitants  away,  leaving  their  growing 
crops  and  other  property  to  destruction,  to  you  may  ap- 
pear a  perfectly  amiable,  peaceful,  unprovoking  proced- 
ure; but  it  does  not  appear  so  to  us.  So  to  call  such  an 
act,  to  us  appears  no  other  than  a  naked,  impudent  ab- 
surdity, and  we  speak  of  it  accordingly.  But  if,  when 
the  war  had  begun,  and  become  the  cause  of  the  coun- 
try, the  giving  of  our  money  and  our  blood,  in  com- 
mon with  yours,  was  support  of  the  war,  then  it  is  not 
true  that  we  have  always  opposed  the  war.  With  few 
individual  exceptions,  you  have  constantly  had  our  votes 
here  for  all  the  necessary  supplies. 

And,  more  than  this,  you  have  had  the  services,  the 
blood,  and  the  lives  of  our  political  brethren  in  every 
trial  and  on  every  field.  The  beardless  boy  and  the  ma- 
ture man — the  humble  and  the  distinguished,  you  have 
had  them.  Through  suffering  and  death,  by  disease,  and 
in  battle  they  have  endured,  and  fought,  and  fallen  with 
you.  Clay  and  Webster  each  gave  a  son,  never  to  be  re- 
turned. 

From  the  State  of  my  own  residence,  besides  other 
worthy  but  less  known  Whig  names,  we  sent  Marshall, 
Morrison,  Baker,  and  Hardin;  they  all  fought,  and  one 
fell,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  one,  we  lost  our  best  Whig- 
man.  Nor  were  the  Whigs  few  in  number,  or  laggard  in 
the  day  of  danger.      In    that  fearful,    bloody,    breathless 


politics.  343 

struggle  at  Buena  Vista,  where  each  man's  hard  task  was 
to  beat  back  five  foes,  or  die  himself,  of  the  five  high 
officers  who  perished,  four  were  Whigs. 

In  speaking  of  this,  I  mean  no  odious  comparison  be- 
tween the  lion-hearted  Whigs  and  Democrats  who  fought 
there.  On  other  occasions,  I  doubt  not  the  proportion 
was  different.  I  wish  to  do  justice  to  all.  I  think  of  all 
those  brave  men  as  Americans,  in  whose  proud -fame,  as 
an  American,  I,  too,  have  a  share.  Many  of  them, 
Whigs  and  Democrats,  are  my  constituents  and  personal 
friends;  and  I  thank  them — more  than  thank  them — one 
and  all,  for  the  high,  imperishable  honor  they  have  con- 
ferred on  our  common  State. 

AN    IMPORTANT    DISTINCTION. 

But  the  distinction  between  the  cause  of  the  President 
in  beginning  the  war,  and  the  cause  of  the  country  after 
it  was  begun,  is  a  distinction  which  you  can  not  perceive. 
To  you,  the  President  and  the  country  seem  to  be  all  one. 
You  are  interested  to  see  no  distinctiou  between  them; 
and  I  venture  to  suggest  that  possibly  your  interest 
blinds  you  a  little. 

We  see  the  distinction,  as  we  think,  clearly  enough; 
and  our  friends,  who  have  fought  in  the  war,  have  no 
difficulty  in  seeing  it  also.  What  those  who  have  fallen 
would  say,  were  they  alive  and  here,  of  course  we  can 
never  know;  but  with  those  who  have  returned  there  is 
no  difficulty. 

Colonel  Haskell  and  Major  Gaines,  members  here, 
both  fought  in  the  war;  and  one  of  them  underwent  ex- 
traordinary perils  and  hardships;  still  they,  like  all  other 
Whigs   here,    vote  on  the  record  that    the  war  was    un- 


344  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

necessarily    and  unconstitutionally   commenced    by   the 
President. 

And  even  General  Taylor,  himself,  the  noblest  Roman 
of  them  all,  has  declared  that,  as  a  citizen,  and  particu- 
larly as  a  soldier,  it  is  sufficient  for  him  to  know  that  his 
country  is  at  war  with  a  foreign  nation,  to  do  all  in  his 
power  to  bring  it  to  a  speedy  and  honorable  termination, 
by  the  most  vigorous  and  energetic  operations,  without 
inquiring  about  its  justice,  or  anything  else  connected 
with  it. 

Mr.  Speaker,  let  our  Democratic  friends  be  comforted 
with  the  assurance  that  we  are  content  with  our  position, 
content  with  our  company,  and  content  with  our  candi- 
date; and  that  although  they,  in  their  generous  sympa- 
thy, think  we  ought  to  be  miserable,  we  really  are  not, 
and  that  they  may  dismiss  the  great  anxiety  they  have 
on  our  account. 


THE    AGE    IS    NOT    DEAD.  345 

"THE  AGE  IS  NOT  DEAD." 


[Delivered  in  the  Court  House  at  Springfield,  111,  in 
1855,  to  only  three  persons.  Mr.  Herndon  got  out  huge 
posters,  announcing  the  event,  employed  a  band  to  par- 
ade the  streets  and  drum  up  a  crowd,  and  bells  were  rung, 
but  only  three  persons  were  present.  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
to  have  spoken  on  the  slavery  question.  J 

Gentlemen: — This  meeting  is  larger  than  I  knew  it 
would  be,  as  I  knew  Herndon,  (Lincoln's  partner)  and 
myself  would  come,  but  I  did  not  know  that  any  one  else 
would  be  here,  and  yet  another  has  come — you  John 
Paine,      (the  Janitor. ) 

These  are  bad  times,  and  seem  out  of  joint.  All  seems 
dead,  dead,  dead;  but  the  age  is  not  yet  dead;  it  liveth 
as  sure  as  our  Maker  liveth.  Under  all  this  seeming  want 
of  life  and  motion,  the  world  does  move  nevertheless. 
Be  hopeful.  And  now  let  us  adjourn  and  appeal  to  the 
people! 


:o: 


THE  BALLOT  vs.  THE  BULLET. 


[Delivered  to  a  delegation  at  Springfield,  111.,  that 
proposed  to  visit  Kansas  Territory  in  the  physical  defense 
of  freedom,  in  1856.  Hon.  W.  H.  Herndon  was  in  this 
delegation.] 

Friends: — I  agree  with  you  in  Providence.  I  believe 
in  the  providence  of  the  most  men,  the  largest  purse,  and 


Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches.  346 

the  longest  cannon.  You  are  in  the  minority — in  a  sad 
minority;  and  you  can't  hope  to  succeed,  reasoning  from 
all  human  experience.  You  would  rebel  against  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  redden  your  hands  in  the  blood  of  your 
countrymen.  If  you  are  in  the  minority,  as  you  are,  you 
can't  succeed.  I  say  again  and  again,  against  the  Gov- 
ernment, with  a  great  majority  of  its  best  citizens  back- 
ing it,  and  when  they  have  the  most  men,  the  longest 
purse,  and  the  biggest  cannon  you  can't  succeed.  If  you 
have  the  majority,  as  some  say  you  have,  you  can  suc- 
ceed with  the  ballot,  throwing  away  the  bullet .  You  can 
peaceably  then  redeem  the  Government,  and  preserve  the 
liberties  of  mankind,  through  your  votes  and  voice  and 
moral  influence. 

Let  there  be  peace.  In  a  democracy,  where  a  major- 
ity rule  by  the  ballot  through  the  forms  of  law,  these 
physicial  rebellions  and  bloody  resistances,  are  radically- 
wrong;  unconstitutional,  and  are  treason.  Better  bear 
the  ills  you  have  than  to  fly  to  those  you  know  not  of. 
Our  own  Declaration  of  Independence  says  that  govern- 
ments long  established,  for  trival  causes  should  not  be 
resisted.  Revolutionize  through  the  ballot-box,  and  re- 
store the  Government  once  more  to  the  affections  and 
hearts  of  men,  by  making  it  express,  as  it  was  intended  to 
do,  the  highest  spirit  of  justice  and  liberty. 

Your  attempt,  if  there  be  such,  to  resist  the  laws  of 
Kansas  by  force,  is  criminal  and  wicked;  and  all  your 
feeble  attempts  will  be  follies,  and  end  in  bringing  sor- 
row on  your  heads,  and  ruin  the  cause  you  would  freely 
die  to  preserve. 


LINCOLN  "LINKED  TO  TRUTH.' 


[Spoken  in  the  Library  of  the  State  House  at  Spring- 
field, Illinois,  to  a  few  friends  who  wanted  the  sentence, 
"A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand,"  expunged 
from  the  great  speech  known  now  as  the  "House  Divided 
Against  Itself  Speech."  Mr.  Lincoln  had  submitted  the 
manuscript  for  their  criticism  before  the  great  speech  was 
delivered.] 

Friends: — I  have  thought  about  this  matter  a  great 
deal,  have  weighed  the  question  well  from  all  corners, 
and  am  thoroughly  convinced  the  time  has  come  when 
it  should  be  uttered;  and  if  it  must  be  that  I  must  go 
down  because  of  this  speech,  then  let  me  go  down  linked 
to  truth,  die  in  the  advocacy  of  what  is  right  and  just. 
This  nation  cannot  live  on  injustice,  "A  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand."  I  say  again  and  again;  the 
proposition  is  true  and  has  been  true  for  six  thousand 
years,  and  I  will  deliver  it  as  it  is  written. 

[This  celebrated  speech  is  given  in  full,  commencing 
on  the  following  page. 

Mr.  Herndon  told  Mr.  Lincoln  privately  that  it  was  all 
true,  but  he  doubted  whether  it  was  good  policy  to  give 
it  utterance  at  that  time.  "That  makes  no  difference," 
responded  Mr.  Lincoln.  "It  is  the  truth,  and  the  na- 
tion is  entitled  to  it."  Then,  alluding  to  a  quotation 
which  he  had  made  from  the  Bible — "A  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand,"  he  said  that  he  wished  to 
give  an  illustration  familiar  to  all,  "that  he  who  runs 
may  read."] 

:o: 

[347] 


CAPITOL    AT    SPRINGFIELD,     ILL, 

LINCOLN'S  FIRST  SPEECH  IN  THE  SENA. 
TORIAL  CAMPAIGN. 


The    House   Divided  Against   Itself  Speech." 

(Delivered  at  Springfield,  111.,  June  16,  1858,  before 
the  Republican  State  Convention .  It  is  known  as  one 
of  Lincoln's  g-reatest  speeches.) 

[348] 


A    HOUSE    DIVIDED,    ETC.  349 

Gentlemen  of  the  Convention: — "If  we  could  first 
know  where  we  are,  and  whither  we  are  tending,  we 
could  better  judge  what  to  do,  and  how  to  do  it.  We  are 
now  far  into  the  fifth  year,  since  a  policy  was  initiated 
with  the  avowed  object  and  confident  promise  of  put- 
ting an  end  to  slavery  agitation.  Under  the  operation  of 
that  policy,  that  agitation  has  not  ceased,  but  has 
constantly  augmented.  In  my  opinion,  it  will  not  cease 
until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and  passed.  "A 
house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand."  I  believe 
this  government  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave 
and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolv- 
ed— I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall — but  I  do  expect 
it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing, 
or  all  the  other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will 
arrest  the  further  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the 
public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the 
course  of  ultimate  extinction;  or  its  advocates  will  push 
it  forward,  till  it  shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the 
States,  old  as  well  as  new — North  as  well  as  South. 

"Have  we  no  tendency  to  the  latter  condition? 

"Let  anyone  who  doubts,  carefully  contemplate  that 
now  almost  complete  legal  combination — piece  of  ma- 
chinery, so  to  speak — compounded  of  the  Nebraska  doc- 
trine and  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  Let  him  consider  not 
only  what  work  the  machinery  is  adapted  to  do,  and 
how  well  adapted;  but  also  let  him  study  the  his- 
tory of  its  construction,  and  trace,  if  he  can,  or  rather 
fail,  if  he  can,  to  trace  the  evidence  of  design  and 
concert  of  action  among  its  chief  architects,  from  the 
beginning. 


350  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches 

a  few  important  facts. 
"The  new  year  of  1844  found  slavery  excluded  from 
more  than  half  the  ^tates  by  State  Constitutions,  and 
from  most  of  the  national  territory  by  Congressional  pro- 
hibition. Four  days  later,  commenced  the  struggle  which 
ended  in  repealing  that  Congressional  prohibition.  This 
opened  all  the  national  territory  to  slavery,  and  was  the 
first  point  gained. 

"But,  so  far,  Congress  had  acted;  and  an  indorse- 
ment by  the  people,  real  or  apparent,  was  indispensa- 
ble, to  save  the  point  already  gained,  and  give  cfiance 
for  more. 

"This  necessity  had  not  been  overlooked;  but  had  been 
provided  for,  as  well  as  might  be,  in  the  notable  argu- 
ment of  'scatter  sovereignty,'  otherwise  called  'sacred 
right  of  self-government,'  which  latter  phrase,  though 
expressive  of  the  only  rightful  basis  of  any  government, 
was  so  perverted  in  this  attempted  use  of  it  as  to  amount 
to  just  this: 

"That  if  anyone  man  choose  to  enslave  another,  no 
third  man  shall  be  allowed  to  object.  That  argument 
was  incorporated  into  the  Nebraska  bill  itself,  in  the  lang- 
uage which  follows: 

"  'It  being  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to 
legislate  slavery  into  any  territory  or  state,  nor  to  exclude 
it  therefrom;  but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly 
free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in 
their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.' 

"Then  opened  the  roar  of  loose  declamation  in  favor 
of   'squatter  sovereignty,"  and  -sacred  right    of    self-gov- 


A    HOUSE    DIVIDED,    ETC.  351 

ernment.'  'But,'  said  opposition  members,  'let  us 
amend  the  bill  so  as  to  expressly  declare  that  the  people 
of  the  territory  may  exclude  slavery.'  'Not  we,'  said 
the  friends  of  the  measure;  and  down  they  voted  the 
amendment. 

'  'While  the  Nebraska  bill  was  passing  through  Con- 
gress, a  law  case  involving  the  question  of  a  negro's  free- 
dom, by  reason  of  his  owner  having  voluntarily  taken  him 
first  into  a  free  state  and  then  into  a  territory  covered  by 
the  Congressional  prohibition,  and  held  him  as  a  slave 
for  a  long  time  in  each,  was  passing  through  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  for  the  district  of  Missouri;  and  both 
Nebraska  bill  and  lawsuit  were  t  brought  to  a  decision  in 
the  same  month  of  May,  1854.  The  negro's  name  was 
'Dred  Scott,'  which  name  now  designates  the  decision  fi- 
nally made  in  the  case. 

►     '  'Before  the  then   next  presidental  election,  the  case 

came  to,  and  was  argued  in  the  Supreme    Court   of   the 

United  States,  but  the  decision  of   it    was  deferred  until 

after  the  election. 

Still  before  the  election,  Mr.  Trumbull,  on  the  floor  of  the 

Senate,  requested  the  leading  advocate  of  the  Nebraska 
bill  to  state  his  opinion  whether  the  people  of  a  territory 
can  constitutionally  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits;  and 
the  latter  answer,  s:  -That  is  a  question  for  the  Supreme 
Court. ' 

"The  election  came.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  elected,  and 
the  endorsement,  such  as  it  was,  secured.  That  was  the 
second  point  gained.  The  endorsement,  however,  fell 
short  of  a  clear  popular  majority  of  nearly  four  hundred 
thousand  votes,  and  so,  perhaps,  was  not  overwhelmingly 


352  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

reliable  and  satisfactory.  The  outgoing  President,  in  his 
last  annual  message,  as  impressively  as  possible  echoed 
back  upon  the  people  the  weight  and  authority  of  the  in- 
dorsement. The  Supreme  Court  met  again;  did  not  an- 
nounce their  decision,  but  ordered  a  re-argument.  The 
presidential  inauguration  came,  and  still  no  decision  of 
the  court;  but  the  incoming  President  in  his  inaugural  ad- 
dress fervently  exhorted  the  people  to  abide  by  the  forth- 
coming decision,  whatever  it  might  be.  Then,  in  a  few 
days,  came  the  decision. 

"The  reputed  author  of  the  Nebraska  bill  finds  an 
early  occasion  to  make  a  speech  at  this  capital  iudorsing 
theDred  Scott  decision,  and  vehemently  denouncing  all 
opposition  to  it .  The  new  President,  too,  seizes  the 
early  occasion  of  the  Silliman  letter  to  indorse  and 
strongly  construe  that  decision,  and  to  express  his  as- 
tonishment that  any  different  view  had  ever  been  en-, 
tertained. 

VOTING    IT    UP    OR    DOWN. 

"At  length  a  squabble  sprang  up  between  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  author  of  the  Nebraska  bill,  on  the  mere 
question  of  fact,  whether  the  Lecompton  Constitution  was 
or  was  not,  in  any  just  sense,  made  by  the  people  of 
Kansas;  and  in  that  quarrel  the  latter  declares  that  all 
he  wants  is  a  fair  vote  for  the  people  and  that  he  cares 
not  whether  slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted  up.  I  do 
not  understand  his  declaration  that  he  cares  not  whether 
slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted  up  to  be  intended  by  him 
other  than  an  apt  definition  of  the  policy  he  would  im- 
press upon  the  pulic  mind — the  principle   for  which  he 


A    HOUSE    DIVIDED,     ETC.  353 

declares  he  has  suffered  so  much,  and  is  ready    to    suffer 
to  the  end.      And  well  may  he  cling,  to  that    principle. 
If  he  has  any  parental  feelings,  well  may  he  cling  to   it. 
That  principle  is  the  only  shred  left  of   his  original    Ne- 
braska doctrine. 

"Under  the  Dred  Scott  decision  squatter  sovreignty 
squatted  out  of  existence,  tumbled  down  like  temporary 
scaffolding — like  the  mould  at  the  foundry,  served 
through  one  blast  and  fell  back  into  loose  sand — helped 
to  carry  an  election  and  then  was  kicked  to  the  winds. 
His  late  joint  struggle  with  the  Republicans,  against  the 
Lecompton  Constitution,  involves  nothing  of  the  origin- 
al Nebraska  doctrine.  That  struggle  was  made  on  a 
point — the  right  of  a  people  to  *make  their  own  consti- 
tution— upon  which  he  and  the  Republicans  have  never 
differed. 

"The  several  points  cf  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  in 
connection  with  Senator  Douglas'  care  not  policy, 
constitute  the  piece  of  machinery,  in  its  present 
state  of  advancement.  This  was  the  third  point 
gained. 

WORKING    POINTS. 

"The  working  points  of  that  machinery  are: 
"First,  That  no  negro  slave,  imported  as  such  from 
Africa,  and  no  descendant  of  such  slave,  can  ever  be  a 
citizen  of  any  state,  in  the  sense  of  that  term  as  used  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  This  point  is 
made  in  order  to  deprive  the  negro,  in  every  possible 
event,  of  the  benefit  of  that  provision  of  the  United 
States  Constitution,  which  declares  that    'The  citizens  of 


3  54  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

each  state  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and    im- 
munities of  citizens  in  the  several  states,' 

"Secondly,  That  'subject  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,' neither  Congress  nor  a  territorial  legis- 
lature can  exclude  slavery  from  any  United  States  terri- 
tory. This  point  is  made  in  order  that  indivinual  men 
may  fill  up  the  territories  with  slaves,  without  danger 
of  loosing  them  as  property,  and  thus  to  enhance 
the  chances  of  permanency  to  the  institutions  through 
all  the  future. 

"Thirdly,  That  whether  the  holding  the  negro  in  ac- 
tual slavery  in  a  free  state,  makes  him  free,  as  against 
the  holder,  the  United  States  courts  will  not  decide,  but 
will  leave  to  be  decided  by  the  courts  of  any  slave  state 
the  negro  may  be  forced  into  by  the  master. 

"This  point  is  made,  not  to  be  pressed  immediately, 
but,  if  acquiesced  in  for  a  while,  and  apparently  indors- 
ed by  the  people  at  an  election,  then  to  sustain  the  logi- 
cal conclusion  that  what  Dred  Scott's  master  might  law- 
fully do  with  Dred  Scott,  in  the  free  state  of  Illinois, 
every  other  master  may  lawfully  do  with  any  other  one, 
or  one  thousand  slaves,  or  in  any  other  free  state. 

"Auxiliary  to  all  this,  and  working  hand  in  hand  with 
it.  the  Nebraska  doctrine,  or  what  is  left  of  it,  is  to  edu- 
cate and  mould  public  opinion,  at  least  northern  public 
opinion,  not  to  care  whether  slavery  is  voted  down  or 
voted  up.  This  shows  exactly  where  we  now  are;  and 
partially,  also,  whither  we  are  tending. 

A    STRING    OF    HISTORICAL    FACTS. 

"It  will  throw  additional  light  on  the  latter,  to  go 
back  and  run  the  mind  over  the  string  of  historical  facts 


A    HOUSE    DIVIDED,    ETC.  355 

already  stated,  Several  things  will  now  appear  less  dark 
and  mysterious  than  they  did  when  they  were  transpir- 
ing. The  people  were  to  be  left  'perfectly  free,'  subject 
only  to  the  Constitution. 

What  the  Constitution  had  to  do  with  it,  outsiders 
could  not  then  see.  Plainly  enough  now,  it  was  an  ex- 
actly fitted  niche,  for  the  Dred  Scott  decision  to  after- 
ward come  in,  and  declare  the  perfect  freedom  of  the 
people  to  be  just  no  freedom  at  all.  Why  was  the 
amendment,  expressly  declaring  the  right  of  the  people 
voted  down?  Plain  enough  now;  the  adoption  of  it 
would  have  spoiled  the  niche  for  the  Dred  Scott  deci- 
sion Why  was  the  court  decision  held  up.  Why  even 
a  senator's  individual  opinion  withheld,  till  after  the 
presidential  election?  Plainly  enough  now;  the  speak- 
ing out  then  would  have  damaged  the  perfectly  free  ar- 
gument upon  which  the  election  was  to  be  carried. 
Why  the  out-going  President's  felicitation  on  the  indorse- 
ment? Why  the  delay  of  are-argument?  Why  the  in- 
coming President's  advance  exhortation  in  favor  of  the 
decision?  These  things  look  like  the  cautious  patting 
and  petting  of  a  spirited  horse  preparatory  to  mounting 
him,  when  it  is  dreaded  that  he  may  give  the  rider  a  fall. 
And  why  the  hasty  after-indorsement  of  the  decision  by 
the  President  and  others? 

':We  cannot  absolutely  know  that  all  these  exact 
adaptations  are  the  result  of  preconcert.  But  when  we 
see  a  lot  of  framed  timbers,  different  portions  of  which 
we  know  have  been  gotten  out  at  different  times  and 
places  and  by  different  workman — Stephen,  Franklin, 
Roger  and  James,  for  instance — and  when  we  see    these 


356  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

timbers  joined  together,  and  see  they  exactly  make  the 
frame  of  a  house  or  a  mill,  all  the  tenons  and  mortices 
exactly  adapted,  and  all  the  lengths  and  proportions  of 
the  different  pieces  exactly  adapted  to  their  respective 
places,  and  not  a  piece  too  many  or  too  few — not  omit- 
ting even  scaffolding — or,  if  a  single  piece  be  lacking,  we 
see  the  place  in  the  frame  exactly  fitted  and  prepared  yet 
to  bring  such  a  piece  in — in  such  a  case,  we  find  it  im- 
possible not  to  believe  that  Stephen  and  Franklin  and 
Roger  and  James  all  understood  one  another  from  the  be- 
ginning and  all  worked  upon  a  common  plan  or  draft 
drawn  up  before  the  first  blow  was  struck, 

POWER    OF    A    STATE. 

"It  should  not  be  overlooked  that,  by  the  Nebraska 
bill,  the  people  of  a  state  as  well  as  territory,  were  to  be 
left  'perfectly  free,'  subject  only  to  the  Censtitution.' 
Why  mention  a  state?  They  were  legislating  for  territo- 
ries, and  not  for  or  about  states. 

"Certainly  the  people  of  a  state  are  or  ought  to  be  sub- 
ject to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States;  but  why  is 
mention  of  this  lugged  into  this  merely  territorial  law? 
But  why  are  the  people  of  a  territory  and  the  pecple  of  a 
state  therein  lumped  together,  and  their  relation  to  the 
Constitution  therein  treated  as  being  precisely  the  same? 
While  the  opinions  of  the  court,  by  Chief  Justice  Taney, 
in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  and  the  seperate  opinions  of  all 
the  coneurring  judges,  expressly  declare  that  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  neither  permits  Congress  nor 
a  territorial  legislature  to  exclude  slavery  from  any  Unit- 
ed States  territory,  they  all  omit   to    declare  whether  or 


A   HOUSE    DIVIDED,    ETC.  357 

not  the  same  Constitution  permits  a  state,  or  the  people 
of  a  state,  to  exclude  it. 

"Possibly,  this  is  a  mere  omission;  but  who  can  be 
quite  sure,  if  McLean  or  Curtis  had  sought  to  get  into  the 
opinion  a  declaration  of  unlimited  power  in  the  people  of 
a  state  to  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits,  just  as  Chase 
and  Mace  sought  to  get  such  declaration,  in  behalf 
of  the  people  of  a  territory,  into  the  Nebraska  bill; 
I  ask,  who  can  be  quite  sure  that  it  would  not  have 
been  voted  down  in  the  one  case  as  it  has  been  in  the 
other. 

"The  nearest  approach  to  the  point  of  declaring  the 
power  of  a  state  over  slavery,  is  made  by  Judge  Nelson. 
He  approaches  it  more  than  once,  using  the  precise  idea 
and  almost  the  language,  too,  of  the  Nebraska  act.  On 
one  occasion  his  exact  language  is,  'except  in  cases  where 
the  power  is  restrained  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  the  law  of  the  state  is  supreme  over  the  subject 
of  slavery  within  its  jurisdiction. 

In  what  cases  the  power  of  the  states  is  so  restrained 
by  the  United  States  Constitution,  is  left  an  open  ques- 
tion, precisely  as  the  same  question  as  to  the  restraint  on 
the  power  of  the  territories  was  left  open  in  the  Nebras- 
ka act.  Put  this  and  that  together,  and  we  have  another 
nice  little  niche,  which  we  may,  ere  long,  see  filled  with 
another  Supreme  Court  decision,  declaring  that  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  does  not  permit  a  state  to 
exclude  slavery  from  its  limits.  And  this  may  especially 
be  expected  if  the  doctrine  of  'care  not  whether  slavery 
be  voted  down  or  voted  up,'  shall  gain  upon  the  public 
mind  sufficiently  to  give  promise  that  such  a  decision  can 
be  maintained  when  made. 


358  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

"Such  a  decision  is  all  that  slavery  now  lacks  of  being 
alike  lawful  in  all  the  states.  Welcome  or  unwelcome; 
such  decision  is  probably  coming,  and  will  soon  be  up- 
on us,  unless  the  power  of  the  present  political  dynasty 
shall  be  met  and  overthrown.  We  shall  lie  down  pleas- 
antly dreaming  that  the  people  of  Missouri  are  on  the 
very  verge  of  making  their  state  free,  and  we  shall  awake 
to  the  reality  instead,  that  the  Supreme  Court  has  made 
Illinois  a  slave  state.  To  meet  and  overthrow  the  power 
of  that  dynasty,  is  the  work  now  before  all  those  who 
would  prevent  that  consumation.  That  is  what  we  have 
to  do.      How  can  we  best  do  it? 

"A  LIVING  DOG  IS  BETTER  THAN  A  DEAD  LION." 

"There  are  those  who  denounce  us  openly  to  their 
friends,  and  yet  whisper  us  softly  that  Senator  Douglas  is 
the  aptest  instrument  there  is  with  which  to  effect  that 
object.  They  wish  us  to  infer  all,  from  the  fact  that  he 
now  has  a  little  quarrel  with  the  present  head  of  the  dy- 
nasty; and  that  he  has  regularly  voted  with  us  on  a  single 
point,  upon  which  he  and  we  have  never  differed  They 
remind  us  that  he  is  a  great  man,  and  that  the  largest  of 
us  are  very  small  ones.  Let  this  be  granted.  But  'a 
living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion.'  Judge  Douglas,  if 
not  a  dead  lion,  for  this  work,  is  at  least  a  caged  and 
toothless  one.  How  can  he  oppose  the  advances  of  sla- 
very? He  don't  care  anything  about  it.  His  avowed 
mission  is  impressing  the  'public  heart'  to  care  noth- 
ing about  it. 

A  leading  Douglas  democratic  newspaper  treating 
upon  this  subject  thinks  Douglas'  superior  talent 
will   be  needed    to    resist    the    revival    of   the    African 


A    HOUSE    DIVIDED,    ETC.  359 

slave  trade.  Does  Douglas  believe  an  effort  to  revive 
that  trade  is  approaching?  He  has  not  said  so.  Does 
he  really  think  so?  But  if  it  is,  how  can  he  resist  it? 
For  years  he  has  labored  to  prove  it  a  sacred  right  of 
white  men  to  take  negro  slaves  into  the  new  territories. 
Can  he  possibly  show  that  it  is  less  a  sacred  right  to  buy 
them  where  they  can  be  bought  the  cheapest?  And  un- 
questionably they  can  be  bought  cheaper  in  Africa  than 
Virginia.  He  has  done  all  in  his  power  to  reduce  the 
whole  question  of  slavery  to  one  of  a  mere  right  of  prop- 
erty: and  as  such,  how  can  he  oppose  the  foreign  slave 
trade — how  can  he  refuse  that  trade  in  that  'property' 
shall  be  'perfectly  free' — unless  he  does  it  as  a  protec- 
tion to  the  home  production?  And  as  the  home  produc- 
ers will  probably  not  ask  the  protection,  he  will  be  whol- 
ly without  a  ground  of  opposition. 

DOUGLAS    IS    NOT    WITH    US. 

"Senator  Douglas  holds,  we  know,  that  a  man  may 
rightfully  be  wiser  to-day  than  he  was  yesterday — that 
he  may  rightfully  change  when  he  finds  himself  wrong. 
But  can  we,  for  that  reason,  run  ahead;  and  infer  that  he 
will  make  any  particular  change  of  which  he  himself  has 
given  no  intimation?  Can  we  safely  base  our  actions 
upon  any  such  vague  reference?  Now,  as  ever,  I  wish 
not  to  misrepresent  Judge  Douglas'  position,  question  his 
motives,  or  do  aught  that  can  be  personally  offensive  to 
him.  Whenever,  if  ever,  he  and  we  can  come  together 
on  principle  so  that  our  cause  may  have  assistance  from 
his  great  ability,  I  hope  to  have  interposed  no  adventi- 
tious obstacle.  But  clearly,  he  is  not  now  with  us — 
he  does  not  pretend  to  be — he  does  not  pretend 
ever  to  be. 


360  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

but  we  shall  not  fail;  the  victory  is  sure. 

"Our  cause,  then,  must  be  intrusted  to  and  conducted 
by  its  own  undoubted  friends — those  whose  hands  are 
free,  whose  hearts  are  in  the  work — who  do  care  for  the 
result.  Two  years  ago  the  Republicans  of  the  nation 
mustered  over  thirteen  thousand  strong.  We  did  this 
under  the  single  impulse  of  resistance  to  a  common  dan- 
ger, with  every  external  circumstance  against  us.  Of 
strange,  discordant,  and  even  hostile  elements,  we  gath- 
ered from  the  four  winds,  and  formed  and  fought  the  bat- 
tle through,  under  the  constant  hot  fire  of  a  diciplined, 
proud  and  pampered  enemy.  Did  we  brave  all  then,  to 
falter  now?  -now,  when  that  same  enemy  is  wavering, 
dissevered  and  belligerent?  The  result  is  not  doubtful. 
We  shall  not  fail — if  we  stand  firm,  we  shall  not  fail. 
Wise  counsels  may  accelerate,  or  mistakes  delay  it,  but, 
sooner  or  later,  the  victory  is  sure  to  come." 

:o: 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS. 


361 


•s  1*  *  a*«\ 


MR.  LINCOLN'S  DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS. 


His  Celebrated  Reply. 

Delivered  at  Chicago  July  10,  1858. 

My  Fellow-Citizens:  On  yesterday  evening,  upon  the 
occasion  of  the  reception  given  to  Senator  Douglas,  I  was 
furnished  with  a  seat  very  convenient  for  hearing  him,  and 
was  otherwise  very  courteously  treated  by  him  and  his 
friends,  for  which  I  thank  him  and  them. 

During  the  course  of  his  remarks  my  name  was  men- 
tioned in  such  a  way  as,  I  suppose,  renders  it  at  least  not 
improper  that  I  should  make  some  sort  of  reply  to  him.  I 
shall  not  attempt  to  follow  him  in  the  precise  order  in 
which  he  addressed  the  assembled  multitude  upon  that 
occasion,  though  I  shall  perhaps  do  so  in  the  main. 

THE   ALLEGED    ALLIANCE. 

There  was  one  question  to  which  he  called  the  atten- 
tion of  the  crowd,  which  I  deem  of  somewhat  less  impor- 
tance— at  least  of  propriety  for  me  to  dwell  upon — than 
the  others,  which  he  brought  in  near  the  close  of  his  speech 


362  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

and  which  I  think  it  would  not  be  entirely  proper  for  me 
to  omit  attending  to,  and  yet  if  I  were  not  to  give  some 
attention  to  it  now,  I  should  probably  forget  it  alto- 
gether. 

While  I  am  upon  this  subject  allow  me  to  say  that  I  do 
not  intend  to  indulge  in  inconvenient  modes  sometimes 
adopted  in  pulbic  speaking,  of  reading  from  documents; 
but  I  shall  depart  from  that  rule  so  far  as  to  read  a  little 
scrap  from  his  speech,  which  notices  this  first  topic  of 
which  I  speak — that  is,  provided  I  can  find  it  in  the  pa- 
per. 

[Examines  the  morning's  paper  and  reads:] 
"I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  appeal  to  the  people 
against  the  combination  against  me!  the  Republican  lead- 
ers having  formed  an  alliance,  an  unholy  and  unnatural 
alliance  with  a  portion  of  unscrupulous  federal  office- 
holders. I  intend  to  fight  that  allied  army  wherever  I 
meet  them. 

I  know  they  deny  the  alliance,  but  yet  these  men  who 
are  trying  to  divide  the  Democratic  party  for  the  pur- 
pose of  electing  a  Republican  Senator  in  my  place,  are 
just  as  much  the  agents  and  tools  of  the  supporters  of  Mr. 
Lincoln.  Hence  I  shall  deal  with  this  allied  army  just  as 
the  Russians  deal  with  the  allies  at  Sebastopol — that  is, 
the  Russians  did  not  stop  to  inquire  when  they  fired  a 
broadside,  whether  it  hit  an  Englishman,  a  Frenchman  or 
a  Turk. 

Nor  will  I  stop  to  inquire,  nor  shall  I  hesitate  whether 
my  blows  shall  hit  these  Republican  leaders  or  their  allies 
who  are  holding  the  Federal  offices  and  yet  acting  in  con- 
cert with  them." 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS. 


5^3 


Well,  now,  gentlemen,  is  not  that  very  alarming?  Just 
think  of  it!  right  at  the  outset  of  his  canvass,  I,  a  poor, 
kind,  amiable,  intelligent  gentleman,  I  am  to  be  slain  in 
this  way.  Why,  my  friends,  the  Judge  is  not  only,  as  it 
turns  out,  not  a  dead  lion,  nor  even  a  living  one — he  is 
the  rugged  Russian  Bear! 

[Laughter  and  applause.] 

But  if  they  will  have  it — for  he  says  that  we  deny  it — 
that  there  is  any  alliance,  as  he  says  there  is —  and  I  don't 
propose  hanging  very  much  upon  this  question  of  veracity 
— but  if  he  will  have  it  and  there  is  such  an  alliance — that 
the  admisistration  men  and  we  are  allied,  and  we  stand 
in  the  attitude  ofEnglish,  French  and  Turk,  he  occupying 
the  position  of  the  Russian,  in  that  case,  I  beg  that  he  will 
indulge  us  while  we  barely  suggest  to  him  that  these  allies 
took  Sebastopol!      [Great  applause.] 

Gentlemen,  only  a  few  more  words  as  to  this  alliance. 
For  my  part  I  have  to  say,  that  whether  there  be  such  an 
alliance,  depends,  so  far  as  I  know,  of  what  may  be  a  right 
definition  of  the  term  alliance.  If  for  the  Republican 
party  to  see  the  other  great  party  to  which  they  are  op- 
posed divided  among  themselves,  and  not  try  to  stop  the 
division  and  rather  be  glad  of  it — if  that  is  an  alliance,  I 
confess  I  am  in;  but  if  it  is  meant  to  be  said  that  the  Re- 
publicans formed  an  alliance  going  beyond  that,  by  which 
there  is  contribution  of  money  or  sacrifice  of  principle  on 
the  one  side  or  other,  so  far  as  the  Republican  party  is 
concerned,  if  there  be  any  such  thing,  I  protest  that  I 
neither  know  anything  of  it,  nor  do  I  believe  it. 

I  will,  however,  say — as  I  think  this  branch  of  the  ar- 
gument is  lugged  in — I  would  before  I  leave  it  state,  for 
the  benefit  of  those  concerned,    that   one  of  those   same 


364  Lincoln's  stories  ad  speeches. 

Buchanan  men  did  once  tell  me  of  an  argument  that  he 
made  for  his  opposition  to  Judge  Douglas. 

He  said  that  a  friend  of  our  Senator  Douglas  had  been 
talking  to  him,  and  had  among  other  things  said  to  him: 
'Why,  you  don't  want  to  beat  Douglas?"  "Yes,"  said  he, 
"'I  do  want  to  beat  him,  and  I  will  tell  you  why.  I  be- 
lieve his  original  Nebraska  bill  was  right  in  the  abstract, 
but  it  was  wrong  in  the  time  it  was  brought  forward.  It 
was  wrong  in  the  application  to  a  Territory  in  regard  to 
which  the  question  had  been  settled;  it  was  tendered  to 
the  South  when  the  South  had  not  asked  for  it,  but  when 
they  could  not  refuse  it. 

"And  for  this  same  reason  he  forced  that  question  upon 
our  party;  it  has  sunk  the  best  men  all  over  the  nation, 
everywhere,  and  now  when  our  President,  struggling  with 
the  difficulty  of  this  man's  getting  up,  has  reached  the 
very  hardest  point  to  turn  in  the  case,  he  deserts  him, 
and  I  am  for  putting  him  where  he  will  trouble  us  no 
more." 

Now,  gentfemen,  that  is  not  my  argumont  at  all.  I 
have  only  been  stating  to  you  the  argument  of  a  Buchan- 
an man.      You  will  judge  if  there  is  any  force  in  it. 

WHAT    IS     POPULAR    SOVEREIGNTY. 

Popular  sovereignty!  everlasting  popular  sovereignty! 
Let  us  for  a  moment  inquire  into  the  vast  matter  of  pop- 
ular soverignty.  What  is  popular  sovereignty?  We  rec- 
ollect that  in  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  this  strug- 
gle, there  was  another  name  for  the  same  thing — Squat- 
fer  Sovereignty.  It  was  not  exactly  Popular  Sovereignty 
but  Squatter  Sovereignty. 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS.  365 

What  do  those  terms  mean?  What  do  those  terms 
mean  when  used  now? 

And  vast  credit  is  taken  by  our  friend,  the  Judge,  in  re- 
gard to  his  support  of  it,  when  he  declares  the  last  years 
ot  his  life  have  been  and  all  the  future  years  shall  be  de- 
voted to  this  matter  of  popular  soverignty.  What  is  it? 
Why  it  is  the  sovereignty  of  the  people!  What  wassquat- 
ter  sovereignty?  I  suppose  if  it  had  any  significance  at 
all  it  was  the  right  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves,  to 
be  sovereign  in  their  own  affairs  while  they  had  squatted 


THE  SQUATTERS  HOME. 

on  a  Territory  that  did  not  belong  to  them,  in  the  sense 
that  a  State  belongs  to  the  people  who  inhabit  it — when 
it  belonged  to  the  nation — such  right  to  govern  them- 
selves was  called  "Squatter  Sovereignty." 

Now  I  wish  you  to  mark.  What  has  become  of  that 
Squatter  Sovereignty?  What  has  become  of  it?  Can 
you  get  anybody  to  tell  you  now  that  the  people  of  a 
Territory  have  any  authority  to  govern  themselves  in  re- 
gard to  this  mooted  question  of  slavery,  before  they  form 
a  State  Constitution? 

No  such  thing  at  all,  although  there  is  a  general  run- 
ning fire,  and  although  there  has  been  a  hurrah  made  in 
every  speech  on  that  side,  assuming  that  policy  had  giv- 


366  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

en  the  people  of  the  Territory  a  right  to  govern  them- 
selves upon  this  question;  yet  the  point  is  dodged.  To- 
day it  has  been  decided — no  more  than  a  year  ago  it  had 
been  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
and  is  insisted  upon  to-day,  that  the  people  of  a  Terri- 
tory have  no  right  to  exclude  slavery  from  a  Territory, 
and  if  any  one  man  chooses  to  take  slaves  into  a  Terri- 
tory, all  the  rest  of  the  people  have  no  right  to  keep  him 
out. 

This  being  so,  and  this  decision  being  made  one  of  the 
points  that  the  Judge  approved,  and  one  in  the  approval 
of  which  he  says  he  means  to  keep  me  down — put  me 
down  I  should  not  say,  for  I  have  never  been  up,  he 
says  he  is  in  favor  of  it,  and  sticks  to  it,  and  expects  to 
win  his  battle  on  that  decision  which  says  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  Squatter  Sovereignty,  but  that  any  man  may 
take  slaves  into  a  Territory,  aud  all  the  men  may  be  op- 
posed to  it,  and  yet  by  reason  of  the  Constitution  they 
cannot  prohibit  it. 

When  that  is  so,  how  much  is  left  of  this  matter  of 
Squatter  Sovereignty,  I  should  like  to  know? 

[A  voice — "It  is  all  gone."^ 

When  we  get  back,  we  get  to  the  point  of  the  right  of 
the  people  to  make  a  Constitution.  Kansas  was  settled, 
for  example,  in  1854.  It  was  a  Territory  yet,  without 
having  formed  a  Constitution,  in  a  very  regular  way,  for 
three  years. 

All  this  time  negro  slavery  could  be  taken  in  by  any 
few  individuals,  and  by  that  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  which  the  Judges  approve,  all  the  rest  of  the  peo- 
ple cannot  keep  it  out;  but  when  they  come  to  make  a 
Constitution  they   may  say   they  will  not  have   slavery. 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS.  367 

But  it  is  there;  they  are  obliged  to  tolerate  it  in  some 
way,  and  all  experience  shows  it  will  be  so — for  they  will 
not  take  negro  slaves  and  absolutely  deprive  the  owners 
of  them. 

All  experience  shows  this  to  be  so.  All  that  space  of 
time  that  runs  from  the  beginning  of  the  settlement  of 
the  Territory  until  there  is  sufficiency  of  people  to  make 
a  State  Constitution — all  that  portion  of  time  Popular 
Sovereignty  is  given  up. 

The  seal  is  absolutely  put  down  upon  it  by  the  Court 
decision,  and  Judge  Douglas  puts  his  own  on  the  top  of 
that,  yet  he  is  appealing  to  the  people  to  give  him  vast 
credit  for  his  devotion  to  popular  sovereignty. 

[Applause.] 

Again,  when  we  get  to  the  question  of  the  right  of  peo- 
ple to  form  a  State  Constitution  as  they  please,  to  form 
with  slavery  or  without  slavery — if  that  is  anything  new, 
I  confess  I  don't  know  it.  Has  there  ever  been  a  time 
when  anybody  said  that  any  other  than  the  people  of  a 
Territory  itself  should  form  a  Constitution?  What  is 
now  in  it  that  Douglas  should  have  fought  several  years 
of  his  life,  and  pledge  himself  to  fight  all  the  remaining 
years  of  his  life  for? 

Can  Judge  Douglas  find  anybody  on  earth  that  said 
anybody  else  should  form  a  Constitution  for  a  people? 
[A  voice — "Yes."]  Well,  I  should  like  you  to  name  him 
— I  should  like  to  know  who  he  was  [same  voice — "John 
Calhoun 

Mr.  Lincoln — No,  sir,  I  never  heard  of  even  John  Cal- 
houn saying  such  a  thing.  He  insisted  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple as  Judge  Douglas;  but  his  mode  of  applying  it  in 
fact,  was  wrong.    It  is  enough  for  my  purpose  to  ask  this 


368  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

crowd,  when  ever  a  Republican  said  anything  against  it? 
They  never  said  anything  against  it,  but  they  have  con- 
stantly spoken  for  it;  and  whosoever  will  undertake  to 
examine  the  platform,  and  the  speeches  of  responsible 
men  of  the  party,  and  of  irresponsible  men,  too,  if  you 
please,  will  be  unable  to  find  one  word  from  anybody  in 
the  Republican  ranks  opposed  to  that  Popular  Soverign- 
ty  which  Judge  Douglas  thinks  that  he  has  invented. 
[Applause.] 

I  suppose  that  Judge  Douglas  will  claim  in  a  little  while 
that  he  is  the  inventor  of  the  idea  that  the  people  should 
govern  themselves;  that  nobody  ever  thought  of  such  a 
thing  until  he  brought  it  forward.  We  do  remember,  that 
in  the  old  Declaration  of  Independence,  it  is  said  that 
'  'We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men 
are  created  equal;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Crea- 
tor with  certain  inalienable  rights;  that  among  these  are 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness;  that  to  secure 
these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  de- 
riving their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  govern- 
ed."    There  is  the  origin  of  Popular  Sovereignty. 

[Loud  applause.] 

Who,  then,  shall  come  in  at  this  day  and  say  that  he 
invented  it? 

[After  referring,  in  appropriate  terms,  to  the  credit 
claimed  by  Douglas  for  defeating  the  Lecompton  policy, 
Mr.  Lincoln  proceeds.] 

I  defy  you  to  show  a  printed  resolution  passed  in  a 
Democratic  meeting — I  take  it  upon  myself  to  defy  any 
man  to  show  a  printed  resolution  of  a  Democratic  meet- 
ing, large  or  small,  in  favor    of  Judge  Trumbull,   or  any 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS.  369 

of  the  five  to  one  Republicans  who  beat  that  bill.    Every- 
thing must  be  for  the  Democrats. 

They  did  everything,  and  the  five  to  the  one  that  really 
did  the  thing,  they  snub  over,  and  they  do  not  seem  to 
remember  that  they  have  an  existence  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth. 

A    HOUSE    DIVIDED    AGAINST     ITSELF    CANNOT    STAND. 


THE    OLD    AND    DIVIDED    JERUSALEM    WHICH    FELL. 

Gentlemen,  I  fear  that  I  shall  become  tedious.  I  leave 
this  branch  of  the  subject  to  take  hold  of  another.  I  take 
up  that  part  of  Judge  Douglas'  speech  in  which  he  respect- 
fully attended  to  me. 

Judge  Douglas  made  two  points  upon  my  recent  speech 


370  Lincoln's  siories  and  speeches. 

at  Springfield.  He  says  they  are  to  be  the  issues  of  this 
campaign.  The  first  one  of  these  points  he  bases  upon  the 
language  in  a  speech  which  I  delivered  at  Springfield, 
which  I  believe  I  can  quote  correctly  from  memory.  I 
said  there  that  ' '  we  are  now  far  on  in  the  fifth  year  when 
a  policy  was  instituted  for  the  avowed  object,  and  with  the 
confident  promise  of  putting  and  end  to  slavery  agitation; 
under  the  operation  or  that  policy  that  agitation  had  not 
only  not  ceased,  but  had  constantly  augmented.  I  be- 
lieve it  will  not  cease  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reach- 
ed and  passed. 

A  house  divided  against  itself  can  not  stand.  I  believe 
this  government  can  not  endure  permanently  half  slave 
and  half  free. 

I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved — I  am  quot- 
ing from  my  speech — I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall, 
but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  come  all 
one  thing  or  the  other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery 
will  arrest  the  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public 
mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ulti- 
mate extinction,  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward  until 
it  shall  have  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  North 
as  well  as  South. 

In  this  paragraph  which  I  have  quoted  in  your  hearing, 
and  to  which  I  ask  the  attention  of  all,  Judge  Douglas 
thinks  he  discovered  great  political  heresy.  I  want  your 
attention  particularly  to  what  he  has  inferred  from  it.  He 
says  I  am  in  favor  of  making  all  the  States  of  the  Union 
uniform.  He  draws  this  inference  from  the  language  I 
have  quoted  to  you. 

He  says  that  I  am  in  favor  of  making  war  by  the  North 
upon  the  South  for  the  extinction  of  slavery;  that  I  am 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS. 


371 


also  in  favor  of  inviting,  as  he  expresses  it,  the  South  to  a 
war  upon  the  North,  for  the  purpose  of  nationalizing  slav- 
ery. Now,  it  is  singular  enough,  if  you  will  carefully 
read  the  passage  over,  that  I  did  not  say  that  I  was   in  fa- 


HALF  SLAVE  AND  HALF  FREE. 

vorof  any  such  thing  in  it.      I  only  said  what  I  expected 
would  take  place. 

I  made  a  prediction  only — it  may  have  been  a  foolish 
one  perhaps.      I  did  not  even  say  that  I  desired  that  slav- 


372  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

ery  should  be  put  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction.  I  do 
say  so,  now,  however,  so  there  need  be  no  longer  any 
difficulty  about  that.  It  may  be  written  down  in  the 
next  speech. 

Gentlemen,  Judge  Douglas  informed  you  that  this 
speech  of  mine  was  probably  carefully  prepared.  I  ad- 
mit that  it  was.  I  am  not  master  of  language;  I  have 
not  a  fine  education;  I  am  not  capable  of  entering  into  a 
disquisition  upon  dialects,  as  I  believe  you  call  it;  but  I 
don't  believe  the  language  I  employed  bears  any  such  con- 
struction as  Judge  Douglas  puts  upon  it. 

But  I  don't  care  about  a  quibble  in  regard  to  words.  I 
know  what  I  meant,  and  I  will  not  leave  this  crowd  in 
doubt,  if  I  can  explain  it  to  them,  what  I  really  meant 
in  the  use  of  that  paragraph . 

I  am  not,  in  the  first  place,  unaware  that  this  govern- 
ment has  endured  eighty-two  years  half  slave  and  half 
free.  I  know  that.  I  am  tolerably  well  acquainted  with 
the  history  of  the  country,  and  I  know  that  it  has  endur- 
ed eighty-two  years  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  believe — 
and  that  is  what  I  meant  to  allude  to  here — I  believe  it 
has  endured,  because  during  all  that  time,  until  the  in- 
troduction of  the  Nebraska  bill,  the  public  mind  did  rest 
all  the  time  in  the  belief  that  slavery  was  in  the  course  of 
ultimate  extinction. 

That  was  what  gave  us  the  rest  that  we  had  during  that 
period  of  eighty-two  years;  at  least,  so  I  believe.  I  have 
always  hated  slavery,  I  think,  as  much  as  any  Abolition- 
ist. I  have  been  an  old  line  Whig.  I  have  always  hated 
it,  but  I  have  always  been  quiet  about  it  until  this  new 
era  of  the  introduction  of  the  Nebraska  bill  began.  I  have 
always  believed  that  everybody  was  against  it,    and  that 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS.  373 

it  was  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction.  [Pointing  to 
Mr.  Browning,  who  stood  near  by:]  Browning  thought 
so;  the  great  mass  of  the  nation  have  rested  in  the  belief 
that  slavery  was  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction.  They 
had  reason  so  to  believe. 

The  adoption  of  the  Constitution  and  its  attendant  his- 
tory led  the  people  to  believe  so;  and  that  such  was  the 
belief  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  itself. 

Why  did  those  old  men,  about  the  time  of  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Constitution,  decree  that  slavery  should  not 
go  into  the  new  territory,  where  it  had  not  already  gone? 
Why  declare  that  within  twenty  years  the  African  slave 
trade,  by  which  slaves  are  supplied,  might  be  cut  off  by 
Congress?     Why  were  all  these  acts? 

I  might  enumerate  more    of    such    acts;  but    enough. 

What  were  they  but  a  clear  indication  that  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution  intended  and  expected  the  ultimate 
extinction  of  that  institution?     (Cheers.) 

And  now  when  I  say,  as  I  said  in  this  speech  that 
Judge  Douglas  has  quoted  from,  when  I  say  that  I  think 
the  opponents  of  slavery  will  resist  the  further  spread  of 
it,  and  place  it  were  the  public  mind  shall  rest  with  the 
belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction.  I 
only  meant  to  say,  that  they  will  place  it  where  the 
foundation  of  this  Government  originally  placed  it. 

I  have  said  a  hundred  times,  I  have  no  inclination  to 
take  it  back  that  I  believe  there  is  no  right,  and  ought  to 
be  no  inclination  of  the  people  of  the  free  States  to  enter 
into  the  slave  States,  and  to  interfere  with  the  question 
of  slavery  at  all.  I  have  said  that  always,  judge  Doug- 
las has  heard  me  say  it,  if  not  quite  a  hundred  times,  at 
least  as  good  as  a  hundred  times;  and  when  it  is  said  that 


374  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

I  am  in  favor  of  interferiug  with  slavery  where  it  exists, 
I  know  it  is  unwarranted  by  anything  I  have  ever  intend- 
ed, and,  as  I  believe,  by  anything  I  have  ever  used  lan- 
guage which  could  be  fairly  so  constructed  (as,  however, 
I  believe  I  never  have),  I  now  correct  it. 

So  much,  then,  for  the  inference  that  Judge  Douglas 
draws,  that  I  am  in  favor  of  setting  the  sections  at  war 
with  one  another.  I  know  that  I  never  meant  any  such 
thing,  and  I  believe  that  no  fair  mind  can  infer  any  such 
thing,  from  anything  I  have  ever  said. 

SELF-GOVERNMENT. 

Now  in  relation  to  his  inference  that  I  am  in  favor  of  a 
general  consolidation  of  all  the  various  institutions  of  the 
various  States,  I  will  attend  to  that  for  a  little  while, 
and  try  to  inquire,  if  I  can,  how  on  earth  it  could  be  that 
any  man  could  draw  such  an  inference  from  anything  I 
said. 

I  have  said,  very  many  times,  in  Judge  Douglas  hear- 
ing, that  no  man  believed  more  than  I  in  the  principle  of 
self-government,  from  beginning  to  end.  I  have  denied 
his  use  of  that  term  applied  properly.  But  for  the 
thing  itself,  I  deny  that  any  man  has  gone  ahead  of  me 
in  his  devotion  to  the  principle,  whatever  he  may  have 
done  in  efficiency  in  advocating  it. 

I  think  that  I  have  said  in  your  hearing — that  I  be- 
lieve each  individual  is  naturally  entitled  to  do  as  he 
pleases  with  himself  and  the  fruit  of  his  labor,  so  far  as  it 
in  no  wise  interferes  with  any  other  man's  rights — [ap- 
plause] that  each  community,  or  a  State,  has  a  right  to 
do  exactly  as  it  pleases  with  the  concerns  within  that 
State  that  interfere  with  the  right  of  no  other  State,  and 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS.  3/5 

that  the  General  Government,  upon  principle,  has  no 
right  to  interfere  with  anything  other  than  that  general 
class  of  things  that  does  concern  the  whole.  I  have  said 
that  at  all  times. 

I  have  said  as  illustrations,  that  I  do  not  believe  in  the 
right  of  Illinois  to  interfere  with  the  cranberry  laws  of 
Indiana,  the  oyster  laws  of  Virginia,  or  the  liquor  laws  of 
Maine.  I  have  said  these  things  over  ana  over  again, 
and  I  repeat  them  here  as  my  sentiments. 

So  much  then  as  to  my  disposition,  my  wish,  to  have  all 
the  State  Legislatures  blotted  out,  and  a  uniformity  of 
domestic  regulations  in  all  the  States;  by  which  I  suppose 
it  is  meant,  if  we  raise  corn  here,  we  must  make  sugar- 
cane too,  and  we  must  make  those  which  grow  North 
grow  in  the  South.  All  this  I  suppose  he  understands,  I 
am  in  favor  of  doing. 

Now  so  much  for  all  this  nonsense;  for  I  must  call  it 
so.  The  Judge  can  have  no  issue  with  me  on  a  question 
of  established  uniformity  in  the  domestic  regulations  of 
the  State. 

DRED    SCOTT    DECISION. 

A  little  now  on  the  other  point;  the  Dred  Scott  decis- 
ion. Another  of  the  issues  he  says  that  is  to  be  made 
with  me,  is  upon  his  devotion  to  the  Dred  Scott  decis- 
ion, and  my  opposition  to  it. 

I  have  expressed  heretofore,  and  I  now  repeat  my  op- 
position to  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  but  I  should  be  al- 
lowed to  state  the  nature  of  that  opposition,  and  I  ask 
your  indulgence  while  I  do  so.  What  is  fairly  implied 
by  the  term  which  Judge  Douglas  lias  used,  '  'resistance 
to  the  decision?"     I  do  not  resist  it.      If  I  wanted  to  take 


376  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Dred  Scott  from  his  master,  I  would  be  interfering  with 
property,  and  that  terrible  difficulty  that  Judge  Douglas 
speaks  of,  of  interfering  with  property  would  arise. 

But  I  am  doing  no  such  thing  as  that,  but  all  that  I  am 
doing  is  refusing  to  obey  it  as  a  political  rule.  If  I  were 
in  Congress  and  a  vote  should  come  up  on  a  question 
whether  slavery  should  be  prohibited  in  a  new  Territory, 
in  spite  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  I  wTould  vote  that 
it  should. 

That  is  what  I  would  do.  Judge  Douglas  said  last 
night,  that  before  the  decision  he  might  advance  his 
opinion,  and  it  might  be  contrary  to  the  decision  when  it 
was  made;  but  after  it  was  made  he  would  abide  by  it 
until  it  was  reversed.  Just  so!  We  let  this  property 
abide  by  the  decision,  but  we  will  try  to  reverse  that  de- 
cision.     (Loud  applause.) 

We  will  try  to  put  it  where  Judge  Douglas  will  not  ob- 
ject, for  he  says  he  will  obey  it  until  it  is  reversed. 
Somebody  has  to  reverse  that  decision,  since  it  was  made, 
and  we  mean  to  reverse  it,  and  we  mean  to  do  it  peace- 
ably. 

What  are  the  uses  of  decisions  of  courts?  They  have 
two  uses.  As  rules  of  property  they  have  two  uses. 
First;  they  decide  upon  the  question  before  the  court. 
They  decide  in  this  case  that  Dred  Scott  is  a  slave. 
Nobody  resists  that.  Not  only  that,  but  they  say  to 
everybody  else,  that  persons  standing  just  as  Dred  Scott 
stands,  is  as  he  is.  That  is,  that  when  a  question  comes 
up  upon  another  person,  it  will  be  so  decided  again  un- 
less the  court  decides  in  another  way,  unless  the  court 
overrules  its  decision.      (Renewed  applause.)     Well,   we 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS.  377 

mean  to  do  what  we  can  to  have  the  court  decide  the 
other  way.     That  is  one  thing  we  mean  to  try  to  do. 

The  sacredness  that  Judge  Douglas  throws  around  this 
decision,  is  a  degree  of  sacredness  that  has  never  been 
before  thrown  around  any  other  decision.  I  have  never 
heard  of  such  a  thing.  Why,  decisionscapparently  con- 
trary to  that  decision,  or  good  lawyers  thought  were  con- 
trary to  that  decision,  have  been  made  by  that  very 
court  before.  It  is  the  first  of  its  kind;  it  is  an  astonish- 
er  in  legal  history.  It  is  a  new  wonder  of  the  world,  it 
is  based  on  falsehoods  in  the  main  as  to  the  facts;  alle- 
gations of  facts  upon  which  it  stands  are  not  facts  at  all 
in  many  instances,  and  no  decision  made  on  any  ques- 
tion; the  first  instance  of  a  decision  made  under  so  many 
unfavorable  circumstances;  thus  placed,  has  ever  been 
held  by  the  profession  as  law,  and  it  has  always  needed 
confirmation  before  the  lawyers  regarded  it  as  law.  But 
Judge  Douglas  would  have  it  that  all  hands  must  take 
this  extraordinary  decision,  made  under  these  extraordin- 
ary circumstances,  and  give  their  vote  in  congress  in  ac- 
cordance with  it,  yield  to  it  and  obey  it  in  every  possible 
sense, 

Circumstances  alter  cases.  Do  not  gentlemen  here  re- 
member the  case  of  that  Supreme  Court,  twenty-five  or 
thirty  years  ago,  deciding  that  a  National  Bank  was  Con- 
stitutional? I  ask,  if  somebody  does  not  remember  that 
a  National  Bank  was  declared  to  be  Constitutional5 
Such  is  the  truth,  whether  it  be  remembered  or  not.  The 
bank  charter  ran  out,  and  a  re-charter  was  granted. 
That  re-chartcr  was  laid  before  General  Jackson. 

It  was  urged  upon' him,  when  he  denied  the  constitu- 
tionality of  the  bank,  that  the  Supreme  Court  had  decid- 


378  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

ed  that  it  was  constitutional;  and  that  General  Jackson 
then  said  that  the  Supreme  Court  had  no  right  to  lay 
down  a  rule  to  govern  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, the  members  of  which  have  sworn  to  support 
the  Constitution;  that  each  member  had  sworn  to  sup- 
port that  Constitution  as  he  understood  it. 

I  will  venture  here  to  say,   that    I    have    heard   Judge 
Douglas  say  that  he  approved  of  General  Jackson  for  that 


act.      What  has  now  become  of  all  his  tirade  about    "re- 
sistence  to  the  Supreme  Court?" 

THE    DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE. 

We  were  often;  more  than  once,  at  least;  in  the  course 
of  fudge  Douglas'  speech  last  night,  reminded  that  this 
Government  was  made  for  white  men;   that    he   believed 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS.  379 

it  was  made  for  white  men.  Well  that  is  putting  it  into 
a  shape  in  which  no  one  wants  to  deny  it;  but  the  Judge 
then  goes  into  his  passion  for  drawing  inferences  that  are 
not  warranted. 

I  protest,  now  and  forever,  against  that  counterfeit 
logic  which  presumes  that  because  I  did  not  want  a 
negro  woman  for  a  slave,  I  do  not  necessarily  want  her 
for  a  wife.  My  understanding  is  that  I  need  not  have 
her  for  either;  but  as  God  made  us  separate,  we  can  leave 
one  another  alone,  and  do  one  another  much  good 
thereby. 

There  are  white  men  enough  to  marry  all  the  white 
women,  and  enough  black  men  to  marry  all  the  black 
women,  and  in  God's  name  let  them  be  so  married.  The 
Judge  regales  us  with  the  terrible  enormities  that  take 
place  by  the  mixture  of  races;  that  the  inferior  race  bears 
the  superior  down.  Why,  Judge,  if  you  do  not  let  them 
get  together  in  the  Territories  they  won't  mix  there! 

A  voice;  "Three  cheers  for  Lincoln."  (The  cheers 
were  given  with  a  hearty  good  will. 

Mr.  L. — I  should  say  at  least  that  this  is  a  self  evident 
truth. 

Now,  it  happens  that  we  meet  together  once  every 
year  some  time  about  the  Fourth  of  July,  for  some  rea- 
son or  other.  These  Fourth  of  July  gatherings  I  sup- 
pose have  their  uses.  If  you  will  indulge  me,  I  will  state 
what  1  suppose  to  be  some  of  them. 

A    MIGHTY    NATION. 

We  are  now  a  mighty  nation;  we  are  thirty;  or  about 
thirty  millions  of  people,  and  we  own  and  inhabit  about 
one-fifteenth  part  of  the  dry  land  of  the  whole  earth. 


380  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

We  run  our  memory  back  over  the  pages  of  history  for 
about  eighty-two  years,  and  we  discover  that  we  were 
then  a  very  small  people  in  point  of  numbers,  vastly  in- 
ferior to  what  we  are  now,  with  a  vastly  less  extent  of 
country,  with  vastly  less  of  everything  we  deem  desirable 
among  men;  we  look  upon  the  change  as  exceedingly  ad- 
vantageous to  us  and  to  our  prosterity,  and  we  fix  upon 
something  that  happened  away  back,  as  in  some  way  or 
other  being  connected  with  this  rise  of  prosperity. 

We  find  a  race  of  men  living  in  that  day  whom  we 
claim  as  our  fathers  and  grandfathers;  they  were  iron 
men;  they  fought  for  the  principle  that  they  were  con- 
tending for;  and  we  understood  that  by  what  they  then 
did  it  has  followed  that  the  degree  of  prosperity  which  we 
now  enjoy  has  come  to  us. 

We  hold  this  annual  celebration  to  remind  ourselves  of 
all  the  good  done  in  this  process  of  time,  of  how  it  was 
done  and  who  did  it,  and  how  we  are  historically  con- 
nected with  it;  and  we  go  from  these  meetings  in  better 
humor  with  ourselves;  we  feel  more  attached  the  one  to 
the  other,  and  more  firmly  bound  to  the  country  we 
inhabit. 

In  every  way  we  are  better  men  in  the  age,  and  race, 
and  country  in  which  we  live,  for  these  celebrations. 
But  after  we  have  done  all  this,  we  have  not  yet  reached 
the  whole.      There  is  something  else  connected  with  it. 

We  have,  besides  these;  men  descended  by  blood  from 
our  ancestors;  those  among  us,  perhaps  half  our  people, 
who  are  not  descendents  at  ail  of  these  men;  they  are  men 
who  have  come  from  Europe;  German,  Irish,  French  and 
Scandinavian;  men  that  have  come  from  Europe  them- 
selves, or  whose  ancestors   who   have   come  hither  and 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS.  38  I 

settled  here,  finding  themselves  our  equals  in  all  things. 
If  they  look  back  through  this  history  to  trace  their 
connection  with  those  days  of  blood,  they  find  they  have 
none,  they  cannot  carry  themselves  back  into  that  glor- 
ious epoch  and  make  themselves  feel  they  are  part  of  us; 
but  when  they  look  through  that  old  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, they  find  that  those  old  men  say  that  "We 
hold  these  truths  to  be  self  evident,  that  all  men  are 
created  equal,"  and  then  they  feel  that  that  moral  senti- 
ment, taught  on  that  day,  evidences  their  relation  to 
those  men,  that  it  is  the  father  of  all  moral  principle  in 
them,  and  that  they  have  a  right  to  claim  it  as  though 
they  were  the  blood  of  the  blood  and  flesh  of  the  flesh  of 
the  men  who  wrote  that  Declaration  [loud  and  long  con- 
tinued applause],  and  so  they  were. 

That  is  the  electric  cord  in  that  Declaration  that  links 
the  hearts  of  patriotic  and  liberty-loving  men  together, 
that  will  link  those  patriotic  hearts  as  long  as  the  love  of 
freedom  exists  in  the  minds  of  men  throughout  the  world. 
(Applause.  ) 

RUBBING    OUT    THE    SENTIMENT    OF    LIBERTY. 

Now,  sirs,  for  the  purpose  of  squaring  things  with  this 
idea  of  "don't  care  if  slavery  is  voted  up  or  voted  down," 
for  sustaining  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  for  holding  that 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  did  not  mean  anything 
at  all,  we  have  Judge  Douglas  giving  his  exposition  of 
what  the  Declaration  of  Independence  means  and  we  have 
him  saying  that  the  people  of  America  are  equal  to  the 
people  of  England.  According  to  his  construction,  you 
Germans  are  not  connected  with  it. 

Now  I  ask  you  in  all  soberness,  if  all   these   things,   if 


382  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

indulged  in,  if  ratified,  if  confirmed  and  indorsed,  if  taught 
to  our  children  and  repeated  to  them,  do  not  tend  to  rub 
out  the  sentiment  of  liberty  in  the  country,  and  to  trans- 
form this  Government  into  a  government  of  some  other 
form. 

These  arguments  that  are  made  that  the  inferior  race 
are  to  be  treated  with  as  much  allowance  as  they  are 
capable  of  enjoying;  that  as  much  is  to  be  done  for  them  as 
their  condition  will  allow;  what  are  these  arguments? 
they  are  the  arguments  that  Kings  have  made  for  enslav- 
ing the  people  in  all  ages  of  the  world. 

You  will  find  that  all  arguments  in  favor  of  King-craft 
were  of  this  class;  they  always  bestrode  the  necks  of  the 
people,  not  that  they  wanted  to  do  it.  but  because  the 
people  were  better  off  for  being  ridden. 

That  is  their  argument,  and  this  argument  of  the  Judge 
is  the  same  old  serpent  that  says:  You  work  and  I  eat; 
you  toil  and  I  will  enjoy  the  fruits  of  it. 

Turn  it  whatever  way  you  will:  whether  it  comes  from 
the  mouth  of  a  King,  an  excuse  for  enslaving  the  people 
of  his  country,  or  from  the  mouth  of  men  from  one  race 
as  the  reason  for  enslaving  the  men  of  another  race,  it  is 
all  the  same  old  serpent,  and  I  hold  if  that  course  of 
argumentation  that  is  made  for  the  purpose  of  convincing 
the  public  mind  that  we  should  not  care  about  this,  should 
be  granted,  it  does  not  stop  with  the  negro. 

I  should  like  to  know,  if  taking  this  old  Declaration 
of  Independence,  which  declares  that  all  men  are  equal 
upon  principle,  you  begin  making  exceptions  to  it,  where 
you  will  stop?  If  one  man  says  it  does  not  mean  a  ne- 
gro, why  not  another  man  say  it  does  not  mean  some 
other  man!     If  that  declaration  is  not  the  trnth,    let  us 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS.  383 

get  the  statute  book,  in  which  we  find  it,  and  tear  it  out? 
If  it  is  not  true,  let  us  tear  it  out!  [cries  of  "no,  no"];  let 
us  stick  to  it  then;  let  us  stand  by  it  then.  (Applause.) 
It  may  be  argued  that  there  are  certain  conditions  that 
make  necessities  and  impose  them  upon  us,  and  to  the 
extent  that  a  necessity  is  imposed  upon  a  man,  he  must 
submit  to  it.  I  think  that  was  the  condition  in  which  we 
found  ourselves  when  we  established  this  Government. 
We  have  slaves  among  us;  we  could  not  get  our  Consti- 
tution unless  we  permitted  them  to  remain  in  slavery;  we 
could  not  secure  the  good  we  did  secure  if  we  grasped  for 
more:  and  having;  by  necessity,  submitted  to  that  much, 
it  does  not  destroy  the  principle  that  is  the  charter  of  our 
liberties.      Let  that  charter  stand  as  our  standard. 

LET  US  STAND  FIRMLY  BY  EACH  OTHER. 

My  friend  has  said  to  me  that  I  am  a  poor  hand  to 
quote  Scripture.  I  will  try  it  again,  however.  It  is  said 
in  one  of  the  admonitions  of  our  Lord:  "As  your  Father 
in  Heaven  is  perfect,  be  ye  also  perfect." 


The  Savior,  I  suppose,  did  not  expect  that  any  human 
creature  could  be  as  perfect  as  the  Father  in  Heaven;  but 
He  said:  As  your  Father  in  Heaven  is  perfect,  be  ye 
also  perfect. 

He  set  that  up  as  a  standard,  and  he  who  did  most 
toward  reaching  that  standard,  attained  the   highest   de- 


384  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

gree  of  moral  perfection.  So  I  say  in  relation  to  the 
principle  that  all  men  are  created  equal,  let  it  be  as  near- 
ly reached  as  we  can.  If  we  cannot  give  freedom  to 
every  creature,  let  us  do  nothing  that  will  impose  slavery 
upon  any  other  creature.  (Applause.)  Let  us  then 
turn  this  Government  back  into  the  channel  in  which  the 


OUR    SAVIOR    PERFORMING    THE    MIRACLE    AT     THE       WED- 
DING   IN    CAN  A. 

framers  of  the  Constitution  originally  placed  it .  Let  us 
stand  firmly  by  each  other.  If  we  do  not  do  so  we  are 
turning  in  the  contrary  direction,  that  our  friend  Judge 
Douglas  proposes;  not  intentionally;  as  working  in  the 
traces  tends  to  make  this  one  universal  slave  nation. 
He  is  one  that  runs  in  that  direction,  and  as  such  I  resist 
him. 


DEBATE  WITH  DOUGLAS.  385 

My  friends,  I  have  detained  you  about  as  long  as  I  de- 
sire to  do,  and  I  have  only  to  say,  let  us  discard  all  this 
quibbling  about  this  man  and  the  other  man;  this  race 
and  that  race  and  the  other  race  being  inferior,  and 
therefore  they  must  be  placed  in  an  inferior  position — 
discarding  our  standard  that  we  have  left  us.  Let  us 
discard  all  these  things,  and  unite  as  one  people  through- 
out this  land,  until  we  shall  once  more  stand  up  declaring 
that  all  men  are  created  equal . 

My  friends,  I  could  not,  without  launching  off  upon 
some  new  topic,  which  would  detain  you  too  long,  con- 
tinue to-night.  I  thank  you  for  this  most  extensive  au- 
dience that  you  have  furnished  me  to-night.  I  leave  you, 
hoping  that  the  lamp  of  liberty  will  burn  in  your  bosoms 
until  there  shall  no  longer  be  a  donbt  that  all  men  are 
created  free  and  equal. 


■:o:- 


386  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 


DOUGLAS'  SEVEN  QUESTIONS. 

Lincoln's  Position  Defined  on  the  Questions  of 

the  Day. 

[Delivered  at  Freeport,  111.,  July,  1858.] 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — On  Saturday  last,  Judge 
Douglas  and  myself  first  met  in  public  discussion.  He 
spoke  one  hour,  I  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  he  replied  for 
half  an  hour.  The  order  is  now  reversed.  I  am  to  speak 
an  hour,  he  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  then  I  am  to  reply 
for  half  on  hour.  I  propose  to  devote  myself  during  the 
first  hour  to  the  scope  of  what  was  brought  within  the 
range  of  his  half  hour  speech  at  Ottawa.  Of  course 
there  was  brought  within  the  scope  of  that  half-hour's 
speech  something  of  his  own  opening  speech.  In  the 
course  of  that  opening  argument  Judge  Douglas  propos- 
ed to  me  seven  different  interrogatories. 

In  my  speech  of  an  hour  and  a  half,  I  attended  to  some 
other  parts  of  his  speech;  and  incidentally,  as  I  thought, 
answered  one  of  the  interrogatories  then.  I  then  dis- 
tinctly intimated  to  him  that  I  would  answer  the  rest  of 
his  interrogatories  on  condition  only  that  he  should  agree 


Douglas'  questions  answered.  387 

to  answer  as  many  for  me.  He  made  no  intimation  at 
the  time  of  the  proposition,  nor  did  he  in  his  reply  al- 
lude at  all  to  that  suggestion  of  mine.  I  do  him  no  in- 
justice in  saying  that  he  occupied  at  least  half  of  his  re- 
p!y  in  dealing  with  me  as  though  I  had  refused  to  answer 
his  interrogatories.  I  now  propose  that  I  will  answer 
any  of  the  interrogatories,  upon  condition  that  he  will 
answer  questions  from  me  not  exceeding  the  same  num- 
ber, I  give  him  an  opportunity  to  respond.  I  now  say 
that  I  will  answer  his  interrogatories,  whether  he  answers 
mine  or  not  [applause];  and  that  after  I  have  done  so,  I 
will  propound  mine  to  him.      [Applause.] 

I  have  supposed  myself,  since  the  organization  of  the 
Republican  party  at  Bloomington,  in  May,  1856,  bound 
as  a  party  man  by  the  platform  of  the  party,  then  and 
since.  If  in  any  interrogatories  which  I  shall  answer  I 
go  beyond  the  scope  of  what  is  in  these  platforms,  it 
will  be  perceived  that  no  one  is  responsible  but  my- 
self. 

Having  said  this  much,  I  will  take  up  the  Judge's  in- 
terrogatories as  I  find  them  printed  in  the  Chicago  Times, 
and  answer  them  seriatim.  In  order  that  there  may  be 
no  mistake  about  it,  I  have  copied  the  interrogatories  in 
writing,  and  also  my  answers  to  them.  The  first  one  of 
these  interrogatories  is  in  these  words: 

Q.  1.  "I  desire  to  know  whether  Lincoln  to-day 
stands,  as  he  did  in  1854,  in  favor  of  the  unconditional 
repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law?" 

A.  I  do  not  now,  nor  never  did,  stand  in  favor  of  the 
unconditional  repeal  of  the  Fugutive  Slave  Law. 

Q.  2.  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands 
pledged  to-day,  as   he  did   in     1854,    against  any  more 


388  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

slave  States  into  the  Union,  even  if  the  people  want 
them?" 

A.  I  do  not  now,  nor  never  did,  stand  pledged 
against  the  admission  of  any  more  slave  States  into  the 
Union. 

Q.  3.  "I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged 
against  the  admission  of  a  new  State  into  the  Union  with 
such  a  Constitution  as  the  people  of  that  State  may  see 
fit  to  make?" 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  against  the  admission 
of  a  new  State  into  the  Union,  with  such  a  consti- 
tion  as  the    people  of  that  State  may  see  fit  to  make. 

Q.  4.  "I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  to-day 
pledged  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Col- 
umbia. 

A.  I  do  not  stand  to-day  pledged  to  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Q.  5.  "I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands 
pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the  slave-trade  between  the 
different  States?" 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the 
slave-trade  between  the  different  States. 

Q.  6.  "I  desire  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged 
to  prohibit  slavery  in  all  the  Territories  of  the  United 
States,  North  as  well  as  South  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise line?" 

A.  I  am  impliedly,  if  not  expressedly,  pledged  to  a 
belief  iu  the  right  and  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  slav- 
ery in  the  United  States  Territories.      [Great  applause.] 

Q.  7.  "I  desire  to  know  whether  he  is  opposed  to 
the  acquisition  of  any  new  territory  unless  slavery  is 
first  prohibited  therein?" 


Douglas'  yuESTTONs  answered.  389 

A.  I  am  not  generally  opposed  to  honest  acquisition 
of  Territory;  and,  in  any  given  case,  I  would  or  would 
not  oppose  such  acquisition,  accordingly  as  I  might  think 
such  acquisition  would  or  would  not  agitate  the  slavery 
question  among  ourselves. 

Now,  my  friends,  it  will  be  perceived  upon  an  exami- 
nation of  these  questions  and  answers,  that  so  far  I  have 
only  answered  that  I  was  not  pledged  to  this,  that  or  the 
other.  The  Judge  has  not  framed  his  interrogatories  to 
ask  me  anything  more  than  this,  and  I  have  answered  in 
strict  accordance  with  his  interrogatories,  and  have  ans- 
wered truly  that  I  am  not  pledged  at  all  upon  any  of  the 
points  to  which  I  have  answered.  But  I  am  not  dis- 
posed to  hang  upon  the  exact  form  of  his  interrogatory. 
I  am  rather  disposed  to  take  up  at  least  some  of  these 
questions,  and  state  what  I  really  think  upon  them. 

Lincoln's  position  more  fully  defined. 

As  to  the  first  one,  in  regard  to  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law,  I  have  never  hesitated  to  say,  and  I  do  not  now 
hesitate  to  say,  that  I  think,  under  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  are 
entitled  to  a  Congressional  slave  law.  Having  said  that, 
I  have  nothing  to  say  in  regard  to  the  existing  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,  farther  than  that  I  think  it  should  have  been 
framed  so  as  to  be  free  from  some  of  the  objections  that 
pertain  to  it,  without  lessening  its  efficiency.  And  inas- 
much as  we  are  not  now  in  agitation  upon  the  general 
question  of  slavery. 

In  regard  to  the  other  question,  of  whether  I  am 
pledged  to  the  admission  of  any  more  slave  States  into 
the  Union,  I  state  to  you  frankly  that  I  would  be  exceed- 


390  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

ingly  sorry  ever  to  be  put  in  a  position  of  having  to  pass 
upon  that  question.  I  should  be  exceedingly  glad  to  know 
that  there  would  never  be  another  slave  State  admitted 
into  the  Union;  but  I  must  add,  that  if  slavery  shall  be 
kept  out  of  the  Territories  during  the  Territorial  existence 
of  any  one  given  Territory,  and  then  the  people  shall, 
having  a  fair  chance  and  a  clear  field,  when  they  come  to 
adopt  the  Constitution,  do  such  an  extraordinary  thing 
as  to  adopt  the  Constitution,  uninfluenced  by  the  actual 
presence  of  the  institution  among  them,  I  see  no  alterna- 
tive if  we  own  the  country,  but  to  admit  them  into  the 
Union.      [Applause.] 

The  third  interrogatory  is  answered  by  the  answer  to 
the  second,  it  being,  as  I  conceive,  the  same  as  the  sec- 
ond. 

The  fourth  one  is  in  regard  to  the  abolition  of  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia.  In  relation  to  that  I  have 
my  mind  very  distinctly  made  up.  I  should  be  exceed- 
ingly glad  to  see  slavery  abolished  in  the  District  of  Col- 
umbia. I  believe  that  Congress  has  Constitutional  pow- 
er to  abolish  it.  Yet  as  a  member  of  Congress,  I  should 
not  with  my  present  views  be  in  favor  of  endeavoring  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  unless  it 
would  be  upon  these  conditions.  First,  that  the  abolition 
should  be  gradual;  second,  that  it  should  be  on  a  vote  of 
the  majority  of  qualified  voters  of  the  District;  and  third, 
that  compensation  should  be  made  to  unwilling  owners. 
With  these  three  conditions,  I  confess  I  would  be  exceed- 
ingly glad  to  see  Congress  abolish  slavery  in  the  District 
of  CoLumbia,  and  in  the  language  of  Henry  Clay,  "sweep 
from  our  Capital  that  foul  blot  upon  our  Nation." 

In  regard  to  the  fifth  interrogatory,  I  must  say  that  as 


DOUGLAS     QUESTIONS    ANSWERED.  39 1 

to  the  question  of  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  between 
the  different  States,  I  can  truly  answer,  as  I  have,  that  I 
am  pledged  to  nothing  about  it.  It  is  a  subject  to  which 
I  have  not  given  that  mature  consideration  that  would 
make  me  feel  authorized  to  state  a  position  so  as  to  hold 
myself  entirely  bound  by  it.  In  other  words,  that  ques- 
tion has  never  been  prominently  enough  before  me  to  in- 
duce me  to  investigate  whether  we  really  have  the  Con- 
stitutional power  to  do  it.  I  could  investigate  if  I  had 
sufficient  time  to  bring  myself  to  a  conclusion  upon  that 
subject;  but  I  have  not  done  so,  and  I  say  so  frankly  to 
you  here,  and  to  Judge  Douglas .  I  must  say,  however, 
that  if  I  should  be  of  the  opinion  that  Congress  does  pos- 
sess the  Constitutional  power  to  abolish  slave-trading 
among  the  different  States,  I  should  not  still  be  in  favor 
of  that  power  unless  upon  some  conservative  principle 
as  I  conceive  it,  akin  to  what  I  have  said  in  relation 
to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia. 

My  answer  as  to  whether  I  desire  that  slavery  should 
be  prohibited  in  all  Territories  of  the  United  States,  is  full 
and  explicit  within  itself,  and  cannot  be  made  clearer  by 
any  comment  of  mine.  So  I  suppose  in  regard  to  the 
question  whether  I  am  opposed  to  the  acquisition  of  any 
more  territory  unless  slavery  is  such  that  I  could  add 
nothing  by  way  of  illustration,  or  making  myself  better 
understood,  than  the  answer,  which  I  have  placed  in  writ- 
ing. 

Now,  in  all  this,  the  Judge  has  me,  and  he  has  me  on 
the  record.  I  suppose  he  had  flattered  himself  that  I 
was  really  entertaining  one  set  of  opinions  for  one  place 
and  another  set  for  another  place — that  I  was    afraid    to 


392  LINCOLNS    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

say  at  one  place  what  I  uttered  at  another.  What  I  am 
saying  here  I  suppose  I  say  to  a  vast  audience  in  the 
State  of  Illinois,  and  I  believe  I  am  saying  that  which, 
if  it  would  be  offensive  to  any  persons  and  render  them 
enemies  to  myself,  would  be  offensive  to  persons  in  this 
audience. 


:o:- 


AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE.  393 


LINCOLN'S  GREAT  COOPER  INSTITUTE 

SPEECH. 


Delivered  at  Cooper  Institute,  New  York  City, 
February  27,   I860. 

[This  speech,  more  than  any  other  one,  is  supposed  to 
have  secured  Lincoln  the  nomination  for  the  Presiden- 
cy.] 

Mr.  President  and  Fellow-Citizens   of    New  York: — 

The  facts  with  which  I  shall  deal  this  evening  are  mainly 
old  and  familiar;  nor  is  there  anything  new  in  the  general 
use  I  shall  make  of  them.  If  there  shall  be  any  novelty, 
it  will  be  in  the  mode  of  presenting  the  facts,  and  the 
references  and  observations  following  that  presenta- 
tion. 

OUR    FATHERS    AND    THE    CONSTITUTION. 

In  his  speech  last  autumn  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  as 
reported  in  the  New  York  Times,  Senator  Douglas 
said: 

1  'Our  fathers,  when  they  framed    the  government  un- 
der which  we  live,  understood  this  question  just  as  well 
and  even  better  than  we  do  now." 

I  fully  indorse  this,  and  I  adopt  it  as  a  text  for  this  dis- 
course. I  so  adopt  it  because  it  furnishes  a  precise  and 
agreed  starting-point  for  a  discussion  between  Republi- 
cans and  that  wing  of  Democracy  headed  by  Senator 
Douglas.      It  simply.leaves  the  inquiry:     "What  was  the 


394  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

understanding  those  fathers  had  of  the  question  men- 
tioned? 

What  is  the  frame  of  government  under  which  we 
live? 

The  answer  must  be:  "The  Constitution  of  the  Uni- 
ted States." 

That  Constitution  consists  of  the  original,  framed  in 
1837  (and  under  which  the  present  government  first  went 
into  operation),  and  twelve  subsequently  framed  amend- 
ments, the  first  ten  of  which  were  framed  in  1789. 

Who  were  our  fathers  that  framed  the  Constitution? 
I  suppose  the  "thirty-nine"  who  signed  the  original  in- 
strument may  be  fairly  called  our  fathers  who  framed 
that  part  of  our  present  government.  It  is  almost  exact- 
ly true  to  say  they  framed  it,  and  it  is  altogether  true  to 
say  they  fairly  represented  the  opinion  arid  sentiment  of 
the  whole  nation  at  that  time.  Their  names  being  famil- 
iar to  nearly  all,  and  accessible  to  quite  all,  need  not  now 
be  repeated. 

I  take  these  "thirty-nine"  for  the  present,  as  being 
'  'our  fathers  who  framed  the  government  under  which  we 
live." 

What  is  the  question  which,  according  to  the  text, 
those  fathers  understood  just  as  well  and  even  better  than 
we  do  now? 

THE    GREAT    ISSUE. 

It  is  this:  Does  the  proper  division  of  local  from  Fed- 
eral authority,  or  anything  in  the  Constitution,  forbid  our 
Federal  Government  to  control  us  as  to  slavery  in  our 
Federal  Territories? 

Upon  this  Douglas  holds  the  affirmative,   and  Republi- 


AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  395 

cans  the  negative.  This  affirmative  and  denial  form  an 
issue;  and  this  issue — this  question — is  precisely  what 
the  text  declares  our  fathers  understood  better  than 
we. 

In  1784 — three  years  hefore  the  Constitution — the 
United  States  then  owning  the  North-western  Territory, 
and  no  other — the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  had  be- 
fore them  the  question  of  prohibiting  slavery  in  that  Ter- 
ritory; and  four  of  the  '  'thirty-nine"  who  afterward  framed 
the  Constitution  were  in  that  Congress,  and  voted  on 
that  question. 

Of  these,  Roger  Sherman,  Thomas  Mifflin  and  Hugh 
Williamson  voted  for  the  prohibition — thus  showing  that, 
in  their  understanding,  no  line  divided  local  from  Federal 
authority,  nor  anything  else,  properly  forbade  the  Fed- 
eral Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  Federal  ter- 
ritory. 

The  other  of  the  four— James  McHenry — voted  against 
the  prohibition,  showing  that,  for  some  cause,  he  thought 
it  improper  to  vote  for  it. 

ORDINANCE    OF    1 787. 

In  1787,  still  before  the  Constitution,  but  while  the 
convention  was  in  session  framing  it  and  while  the  North- 
west Territory  was  the  only  territory  owned  by  the  Uni- 
ted States,  the  same  question  of  prohibiting  slavery  in  the 
territory  again  came  before  the  Congress  of  the  Confed- 
eration and  three  more  of  the  "thirty-nine"  who  after- 
ward signed  the  Constitution  were  in  that  Congress  and 
voted  on  that  question. 

They  were:  William  Blount,  William  Few,  and  Abra- 
ham Baldwin,  and  they  all  voted    for    the   prohibition — 


396  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

thus  showing  that,  in  their  understanding,  no  line  divid- 
ing local  from  Federal  authority,  nor  anything  else,  prop- 
erly forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to 
slavery  in  Federal  territory.  This  time  the  prohibition 
became  a  law,  being  a  part  of  what  is  now  known  as  the 
ordidance  of  '87 . 

The  question  of  Federal  control  of  slavery  in  the  ter- 
ritories seems  not  to  have  been  directly  before  the  con- 
vention which  framed  the  original  Constitution;  and  hence 
it  is  not  recorded  that  the  "thirty-nine,"  or  any  of  them, 
while  engaged  on  that  instrument,  expressed  any  opinion 
on  that  precise  question. 

THE    FIRST    CONGRESS. 

In  1789,  by  the  first  Congress  which  sat  under  the 
Constitution,  an  act  was  passed  to  enforce  the  ordinance 
of  '87,  including  the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  North- 
western Territory.  The  bill  for  this  act  was  reported  by 
one  of  the  "thirty-nine,"  Thomas  Fitzsimmons,  then  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  Penn- 
sylvania. 

It  went  through  all  its  stages  without  a  word  of  oppo- 
sition, and  finally  passed  both  branches  without  yeas  or 
nays,  which  is  equivalent  to  a  unanimous  passage.  In 
this  Congress  there  were  sixteen  of  the  '  'thirty-nine" 
fathers  who  framed  the  original  Constitution.  They 
were: 

John  Langdon,  George  Clymer,  Richard  Bassett, 

Nicholas  Gilmad,      William  Few,  George  Read, 

Win.  S.  Johnson,     Abraham  Baldwin,    Pierce  Butler, 
Roger  Sherman,       Rufus  King,  Daniel  Carroll, 

Robert  Morris,  William  Patterson,   James  Madison. 

Thomas  Fitzsimmons 


AT   COOPER    INSTITUTE.  397 

This  shows  that  in  their  understanding  no  line  divided 
local  from  Federal  authority,  nor  anything  in  the  Consti- 
tution properly  forbade  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery 
in  the  Federal  territory,  else  both  their  fidelity  co  cor- 
rect principle  and  their  oath  to  support  the  Constitution 
would  have  constrained  them  to  oppose  the  prohibi- 
tion. 

GEORGE    WASHINGTON. 

Again,  George  Washington,  another  of  the  '  'thirty- 
nine,  "  was  then  President  of  the  United  States,  and,  as 
such,  approved  and  signed  the  bill,  thus  completing  its 
validity  as  a  law,  and  thus  showing  that  in  his  understand- 
ing, no  line  dividing  local  from  Federal  authority, 
nor  anything  in  the  Constitution,  forbade  the  Feder- 
al Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  Federal  terri- 
tory. 

THE    FIRST   TER I  TORIES. 

No  great  while  after  the  adoption  of  the  original  Con- 
stitution, North  Carolina  ceded  to  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment the  country  now  constituting  the  State  of  Tennes- 
see, and  a  few  years  later  Georgia  ceded  that  which  now 
constitutes  the  States  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  In 
both  deeds  of  cession  it  was  made  a  condition  by  the 
ceding  States  that  the  Federal  Government  should  not 
prohibit  slavery  in  the  ceded  country.  Besides  this,  slav- 
ery was  already  in  the  ceded  country.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, Congress,  on  taking  charge  of  these  coun- 
tries, did  not  absolutely  prohibit  slavery  within  them. 
But  they  did  interfere  with  it,  take  control  of  it,  even 
there,  to  a  certain  extent. 

In  1 798,  Congress  organized  the  territory    of  Mississ- 


398  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

ippi.  In  the  act  of  organization  they  prohibited  the  bring- 
ing of  slaves  into  the  territories  from  any  place  without 
the  United  States,  by  fine,  and  giving  freedom  to  slaves 
so  brought . 

This  act  passed  both  branches  of  Congress  without 
yeas  and  nays.  In  that  Congress  were  three  of  the  '  'thir- 
ty-nine" who  framed  the  original  Constitution.  They 
were  John  Langdon,  George  Read  and  Abraham  Bald- 
win. 

They  all,  probably,  voted  for  it.  Certainly  they  would 
have  placed  their  opposition  to  it  upon  the  record,  if,  in 
their  understanding,  any  line  dividing  local  from  Federal 
authority,  or  anything  in  the  Constitution  properly  for- 
bade the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in 
Federal  territory. 

THE    LOUISIANA    COUNTRY. 

In  1803,  the  Federal  Government  purchased  the  Louis- 
iana country.  Our  former  territorial  acquisitions  came 
from  certain  of  our  own  States;  but  this  Louisiana  coun- 
try was  acquired  from  a  foreign  nation.  In  1804,  Con- 
gress gave  a  territorial  organization  to  that  part  of  it 
which  now  constitutes  the  State  of  Louisiana.  New  Or- 
leans, laying  within  that  part,  was  an  old  and  compar- 
atively large  city. 

There  were  other  considerable  towns  and  settlements, 
and  slavery  was  extensively  and  thoroughly  intermingled 
with  the  people.  Congress  did  not,  in  the  territorial  act, 
prohibit  slavery;  but  they  did  interfere  with  it — take  con- 
trol of  it— in  a  more  marked  and  extensive  way  than  they 
did  in  the  case  of  Mississippi.  The  substance  of  the  pro- 
vision therein  made,  in  relation  to  slaves,  was: 


AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  399 

First:  That  no  slaves  should  be  imported  into  the 
territory  from  foreign  parts. 

Second:  That  the  slaves  should  be  carried  into  it  who 
had  been  imported  into  the  United  States  since  the  first 
day  of  May,  1798. 

Third:  That  no  slave  should  be  carried  into  it,  except 
by  the  owner,  and  for  his  own  use  as  a  settler;  the  pen- 
alty in  all  the  cases  being  a  fine  upon  the  violator  of  the 
law,  and  freedom  to  the  slave. 

This  act,  also,  was  passed  without  yeas  and  nays.  In 
the  Congress  which  passed  it  there  were  two  of  the 
"thirty-nine."  They  were  Abraham  Baldwin  and  Jona- 
than Dayton.  As  stated  in  the  case  of  Mississippi,  it  is 
probable  they  both  voted  for  it;  they  would  not  have 
allowed  it  to  pass  without  recording  their  opposition  to 
it,  if,  in  their  understanding,  it  violated  either  the  line 
properly  dividing  local  from  Federal  authority  or  any 
provision  of  the  Constitution. 

THE    MISSOURI    QUESTION. 

In  1819-20  came,  and  passed,  the  Missouri  question. 
Many  votes  were  taken  by  yeas  and  nays,  in  both  bran- 
ches of  Congress,  upon  the  various  phases  of  the  general 
question. 

Two  of  the  "thirty-nine" — Rufus  King  and  Charles 
Pinckney — were  members  of  that  Congress.  Mr.  King 
steadily  voted  for  slavery  prohibition  and  against  all  com- 
promises. By  this  Mr.  King  showed  that  in  his  under- 
standing, no  line  divided  local  from  Federal  authority, 
nor  anything  in  the  Constitution,  was  violated  by  Con- 
gress prohibiting  slavery  in  Federal  territory;  while  Mr. 
Pinckney,  by  his  votes,  showed  that   in  his  understand- 


400  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

ing,  there  was  some  different  reason    for  opposing  such 
prohibition  in  the  case. 

The  cases  I  have  mentioned  are  the  only  acts  of  the 
"thirty-nine,"  or  any  of  them  upon  the  direct  issue,  which 
I  have  been  able  to  discover. 

So  enumerate  the  persons  who  thus  acted,  as  being 
four  in  1784,  three  in  1787,  seventeen  in  1789,  three  in 
1798,  two  in  1804,  and  two  in  1819-20,  there  would  be 
thirty-one  of  them.  But  this  would  be  counting  John 
Langdon,  Roger  Sherman,  William  Few,  Rufus  King, 
and  George  Read,  each  twice,  and  Abraham  Baldwin  four 
times. 

The  true  number  of  those  of  the  "thirty-nine,"  whom 
I  have  shown  to  have  acted  upon  the  question,  which,  by 
the  text,  they  understood  better  than  we,  is  twenty-three, 
leaving  sixteen  not  shown  to  have  acted  upon  it  in  any 
way. 

Here,  then,  we  have  twenty-three  of  our  "thirty-nine" 
fathers  who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live, 
who  have,  upon  their  official  responsibility  and  their  cor- 
poral oaths,  acted  upon  the  very  question  which  the  text 
affirms  they  "understood  just  as  well,  and  even  better 
than  we  do  now;  and  twenty-one  of  them — a  clear  ma- 
jority of  the  whole  •  'thirty-nine" — so  acting  upon  it  as  to 
make  them  guilty  of  gross  political  impropriety  and  wil- 
ful perjury,  if,  in  their  understanding,  any  proper  division 
between  local  and  Federal  authority,  or  anything  in  the 
Constitution  they  had  made  themselves  and  sworn  to  sup- 
port, forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control,  as  to 
slavery,  the  Federal  territories.      Thus  the   twenty-one 


AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  401 

acted:  and,  as  actions  speak    louder  than    words,  so  ac- 
tions under  such  responsibility  speak  still  louder. 

Two  of  the  twenty-three  voted  against  Congressional 
prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  Federal  territories,  in 
the  instances  in  which  they  acted  upon  the  question.  But 
for  what  reasons  they  so  voted  is  not  known  They  may 
have  done  so  because  they  thought  a  proper  division  of 
local  from  Federal  authority,  or  some  provision  or  prin- 
cipal of  the  Constitution  stood  in  the  way;  or  they  may, 
without  any  such  question,  have  voted  against  the  prohi- 
bition on  what  appeared  to  them  to  be  sufficient  grounds 
of  inexpediency. 

No  one  who  has  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution  can 
conscienciously  vote  for  what  he  understands  to  be  an  un- 
constitutional measure  however  expedient  he  may  think 
it;  but  one  may  and  ought  to  vote  against  a  measure  which 
he  deems  constitutional,  if,  at  the  same  time,  he  deems 
it  inexpedient. 

It,  therefore,  would  be  unsafe  to  set  down  even  the 
two  who  voted  against  the  prohibition,  as  having  done  so 
because,  in  their  understanding,  any  proper  division  of 
local  from  Federal  authority,  or  anything  in  the  Constitu- 
tion, forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control,  as  to 
slavery,  in  the  territory. 

The  remaining  sixteen  of  the  the  "thirty-nine,"  so  far 
as  I  have  discovered,  have  left  no  record  of  their  under- 
standing upon  the  direct  question  of  Federal  control  of 
slavery  in  the  Federal  territories.  But  there  is  much  rea- 
son to  believe  that  their  understanding  upon  that  ques- 
tion would  not  have  appeared  different  from  that  of  their 
twenty-three  compeers,  had  it  been  manifested  at  all. 

For  the  purpose  of  adhering  rigidly  to  the  text,  I  have 


402  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

purposely  omitted  whatever  understanding  may  have 
been  manifested,  by  any  person,  however  distinguished, 
other  than  the  "thirty-nine *'  fathers  who  framed  the  orig- 
inal Constitution;  and,  for  the  same  reason  I  have  also  omit- 
ted whatever  understanding  may  have  been  manifested 
by  any  of  the  "thirty, nine,"  even  on  any  other  phase 
of  the  general  question  of  slavery.  If  we  should  look 
into  their  acts  and  declarations  on  these  other  phases, 
as  the  foreign  slave  trade,  and  the  morality  and  policy 
of  slavery  generally,  it  would  appear  to  us  that  on  the 
direct  question  of  Federal  control  of  slavery  in  Federal 
territories,  the  sixteen,  if  they  had  acted  at  all,  would 
probably  have  acted  just  as  the  twenty-three  did.  Among 
that  sixteen  were  several  of  the  most  noted  anti-slavery 
men  of  those  times — as  Dr.  Franklin,  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, and  Governor  Morris — while  there  is  not  one  now 
known  to  have  been  otherwise,  unless  it  ma)-  have  been 
John  Rutledge,  of  South  Carolina. 

SUMMARY 

The  sum  of  the  whole  is,  that  of  our  "thirty-nine" 
fathers  who  framed  the  original  Constitution,  twenty-one 
— a  clear  majority  of  the  whole — certainly  understood 
that  no  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority, 
nor  any  part  of  the  Constitution,  forbade  the  Federal 
Government  to  control  slavery  in  the  Federal  territories; 
while  all  the  rest  probably  had  the  same  understanding. 
Such,  unquestionably,  was  the  understanding  of  our 
fathers  who  framed  the  original  Constitution;  and  the 
text  affirms  that  they  understood  the  question  better 
than  we . 


AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  403 

AMENDMENT    TO    THE    CONSTITUTION. 

But,  so  far,  I  have  been  considering  the  understand- 
ing of  the  question  manifested  by  the  framers  of  the 
original  Constitution.  In  and  by  the  original  instrument, 
a  mode  was  provided  for  amending  it;  and,  as  I  have  al- 
ready stated,  the  present  frame  of  government  under 
which  we  live  consists  of  that  original  and  twelve  amend- 
atory articles  framed  and  adopted  since. 

Those  who  now  insist  that  Federal  control  of  slavery 
in  Federal  territories  violates  the  Constitution,  point  us 
to  the  provisions  which  they  suppose  it  thus  violates;  and, 
as  I  understand,  they  all  fix  upon  provisions  in  these 
amendatory  articles,  and  not  in  the  original  instrument. 
The  Supreme  Court,  in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  plant  them- 
selves upon  the  fifth  amendment,  which  provides  that 
"no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  property  without  due 
process  of  law;"  while  Senator  Douglas  and  his  peculiar 
adherents  plant  themselves  upon  the  tenth  amendment, 
providing  that  "the  powers  granted  by  the  Constitu- 
tion are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively  and  to  the 
people." 

Now,  it  so  happens  that  these  amendments  were  fram- 
ed by  the  first  Congress  which  sat  under  the  Constitution 
— the  identical  Congress  which  passed  the  act  already 
mentioned,  enforcing  the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the 
Northwestern  Territory.  Not  only  was  it  the  same  Con- 
gress, but  they  were  the  identical  same  individual  men 
who,  at  the  same  session,  and  at  the  same  time  within 
the  session,  had  under  consideration,  and  in  progress 
toward  maturity,  these  constitutional  amendments  and 
this  act  prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the  territory  the  nation 


404  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

then  owned.  The  constitutional  amendments  were  in- 
troduced before  and  passed  after  the  act  enforcing  the 
ordinance  of  1787,  so  that  during  the  whole  pendency  of 
the  act  to  enforce  the  ordinanace,  the  constitutional 
amendments  were  also  pending. 

That  Congress,  consisting  of  all  the  seventy-six  mem- 
bers, including  sixteen  of  the  framers  of  the  original 
Constitution,  as  before  stated,  were  pre-eminently  our 
fathers  who  framed  that  part  of  the  government  under 
which  we  live  which  is  now  claimed  as  forbidding  the 
Federal  Government  to  control  slavery  in  the  Federal 
territories. 

Is  it  not  a  little  presumptous  in  any  one  at  this  day 
to  affirm  that  the  two  things  which  that  Congress  delib- 
erately framed,  and  carried  to  maturity  at  the  same 
time,  are  absolutely  inconsistent  with  each  other?  And 
does  not  such  affirmation,  from  the  same  mouth,  that 
those  who  did  the  two  things  alleged  to  be  inconsistent 
understood  whether  they  really  were  inconsistent  better 
than  we — better  than  he  who  affirms  that  they  are  in- 
consistent? 

It  is  surely  safe  to  assume  that  the  "thirty-nine" 
framers  of  the  original  constitution,  and  the  seventy-six 
members  of  the  Congress  which  framed  the  amendments 
thereto,  taken  together,  do  certainly  include  those  who 
may  be  fairly  called  our  fathers  who  framed  the  govern- 
ment under  which  we  live.  And  so  assuming,  I  defy  any 
man  to  show  that  any  one  of  them  ever  in  his  whole  life 
declared  that,  in  his  understanding,  any  proper  division  of 
local  from  Federal  authority,  or  any  part  of  the  Consti- 
tution, forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to 
slavery  in  the  Federal  territories. 


AT  COOPER  INSTIIUTE.  405 

I  GO  A  STEP  FARTHER. 

I  go  a  step  farther.  I  defy  any  one  to  show  that  any 
living  man  in  the  whole  world  ever  did,  prior  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  century,  (and  I  might  almost  say 
prior  to  the  beginniug  of  the  last  half  of  the  present  cen- 
tury,) declare  that,  in  his  understanding,  any  proper  div- 
ision of  local  from  Federal  authority,  or  any  part  of  the 
Constitution,  forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  con- 
trol as  to  slavery  in  the  Federal  territories. 

To  those  who  so  now  declare,  I  give,  not  only  "our 
fathers  who  framed  the  government  under  which  we 
live,"  but  with  them  all  other  living  men  within  the  cen- 
tury in  which  it  was  framed,  among  whom  to  search, 
and  they  shall  not  be  able  to  find  the  evidence  of  a  sin- 
gle man  agreeing  with  them. 

LET    THERE    BE    NO    MISUNDERSTANDING. 

Now,  and  here,  let  me  guard  a  little  against  being 
misunderstood.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  we  are  bound  to 
follow  implicitly  in  whatever  our  fathers  did.  To  do  so 
would  be  to  discard  all  the  lights  of  current  experiences 
—to  reject  all  progress — all  improvement.  What  I  do 
say  is,  that  if  we  would  supplant  the  opinions  and  policy 
of  our  fathers  in  any  case,  we  should  do  so  upon  evi- 
dence so  conclusive,  and  argument  so  clear,  that  even 
their  great  authority,  fairly  considered  and  weighed,  can 
not  stand;  and  most  surely  not  in  a  case  whereof  we  our- 
selves declare  they  understood  the  question  better  than 
we. 

If  any  man,  at  this  day,  sincerely  believes  that  a  proper 
division  of  local  from  Federal  authority,  or  any  part  of 
the  Constitution,    forbids    the    Federal   Government    to 


406  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

control  as  to  slavery  in  the  Federal  territories,  he  is  right 
to  say  so,  and  to  enforce  his  position  by  all  truthful  evi- 
dence and  fair  argument  which  he  can. 

But  he  has  no  right  to  mislead  others,  who  have  less 
access  to  history  and  less  lesiure  to  study  it,  into  the 
false  belief  that  "our  fathers  who  framed  the  govern- 
ment under  which  we  live,"  were  of  the  same  opinion — 
thus  substituting  falsehood  and  deception  for  truthful 
evidence  and  fair  argument. 

If  any  man  at  this  day  sincerely  believes  "our  fathers 
who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live,"  used 
and  applied  principles,  in  other  cases,  which  ought  to 
have  led  them  to  understand  that  a  proper  division  of 
local  from  Federal  authority,  or  some  part  of  the  Con- 
stitution, forbids  the  Federal  Government  to  control 
slavery  in  the  Federal  territories,  he  is  right  to  do  so. 

But  he  should,  at  the  same  time,  brave  the  responsi- 
bility of  declaring  that,  in  his  opinion,  he  understands 
their  principles  better  than  they  did  themselves;  and 
especially  should  he  not  shirk  that  responsibility  by  as- 
serting that  they  "understood  the  question  just  as  well, 
and  even  better,  than  we  do  now.  " 

But  enough.  Let  all  who  believe  that  "our  fathers 
who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live,  un- 
derstood this  question  just  as  well,  and  even  better,  than 
we  do  now,"  speak  as  they  spoke,  and  act  as  they 
acted  upon  it.  This  is  all  Republicans  ask — all  Repub- 
licans desire — in  relation  to  slavery.  As  those  fathers 
marked  it,  so  let  it  be  again  marked,  as  an  evil  not  to  be 
extended,  but  to  be  tolerated  and  protected  only  because 
of  and  so  far  as  its  actual  presence  among  us  makes  that 
toleration  and  protection  a  necessity.      Let  all  the  guar- 


AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  407 

antees  those  fathers  gave  it  be,  not  grudgingly,  but  fully 
and  fairly  maintained.  For  this  Republicans  contend, 
and  with  this,  so  far  as  I  know  or  believe,  they  will  be 
content. 

A    FEW    WORDS     FROM     MR.     LINCOLN     TO     THE     SOUTHERN 

PEOPLE. 

And  now,  if  they  would  listen — as  I  suppose  they  will 
not — I  would  address  a  few  words  to  the  Southern  peo- 
ple. 

I  would  say  to  them:  You  consider  yourselves  a  rea- 
sonable and  just  people,  and  I  consider  that  in  the  gen- 
eral qualities  of  reason  and  justice  you  are  not  inferior  to 
any  other  people.  Still,  when  you  speak  of  us  Repub- 
licans you  do  so  only  to  denounce  us  as  reptiles,  or,  at 
the  best,  as  no  better  than  outlaws.  You  will  grant  a 
hearing  to  pirates  or  murderers,  but  nothing  like  it  to 
"Black  Republicans."  In  all  your  contentions  with  one 
another,  each  of  you  deems  an  unconditional  condemna- 
tion of  "Black  Republicanism"  as  the  first  thing  to  be 
attended  to.  Indeed,  such  condemnation  of  us  seems 
to  be  an  indispensable  prerequisite — license,  so  to  speak 
• — among  you,  to  be  admitted  or  permitted  to  speak  at 
all. 

Now,  can  you,  or  not,  be  prevailed  upon  to  pause  and 
to  consider  whether  this  is  quite  just  to  us,  or  even  to 
yourselves? 

"BRING    FORWARD    YOUR    CHARGES." 

Bring  forward  your  charges     and    specifications,    and 

then  be  patient  long  enough  to    hear    us  deny  or  justify. 

You  say  we  are  sectional.      We  deny  it.      That  makes 


408  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

an  issue;  and  the  burden  of  proof  is  upon  you.  You 
produce  your  proof;  and  what  is  it?  Why  that  our  party 
has  no  existence  in  your  section — gets  no  votee  in  your 
section.  The  fact  is  substantially  true;  but  does  it  prove 
the  issue.  If  it  does,  then,  in  case  we  should,  without 
change  of  principle,  begin  to  get  votes  in  your  section, 
we  should  thereby  cease  to  be  sectional. 

You  can  not  escape  this  conclusion;  and  yet,  are  you 
willing  to  abide  by  it?  If  you  are,  you  will  probably 
soon  find  that  we  have  ceased  to  be  sectional,  for  we 
shall  get  votes  in  your  section  this  very  year.  You  will 
then  begin  to  discover  as  the  truth  plainly  is,  that  your 
proof  does  not  touch  the  issue. 

The  fact  that  we  get  no  votes  in  your  section  is  a  fact 
ot  your  making  and  not  of  ours.  And  if  there  be  fault 
in  that  fact  that  fault  is  primarily  yours,  and  remains  so 
until  you  show  that  we  repel  you  by  some  wrong  princi- 
ple or  practice. 

If  we  do  repel  you  by  any  wrong  principle  or  practice, 
the  fault  is  ours;  but  this  brings  you  to  where  you  ought 
to  have  started — to  a  discussion  of  the  right  or  wrong 
of  our  principle.  If  our  principle,  put  in  practice,  would 
wrong  your  section  for  the  benefit  of  ours,  or  for  any 
other  object,  then  our  principle,  and  we  with  it,  are 
sectional,  and  are  justly  exposed  and  denounced  as  such. 
Meet  us,  then,  on  the  question  of  whether  our  principle, 
put  in  practice  would  wrong  your  section;  and  so  meet 
it  as  if  it  were  possible  that  something  may  be  said  on 
our  side. 

Do  you  accept  the  challenge?  No?  Then  you  really 
believe  the  principle  which  '  'our  fathers,  who  framed  the 
government  under  which    we    live,"    thought  so   clearly 


AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  409 

right  as  to  adopt  it  and  indorse  it  again  and  again,  upon 
their  official  oaths,  is,  in  fact,  so  clearly  wrong  as  to  de- 
mand your  condemnation  without  a  moment's  consider- 
ation. 

COULD   WASHINGTON   SPEAK,    WHAT   WOULD   HE   SAY? 

Some  of  you  delight  to  flaunt  in  our  faces  the  warning 
against  sectional  parties  given  by  Washington  in  his 
Farewell  Address.  Less  than  eight  years  before  Wash- 
ington gave  that  warning,  he  had,  as  President  of  the 
United  States,  approved  and  signed  an  act  of  Congress 
enforcing  the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  Northwestern 
Territory,  which  act  embodied  the  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment upon  that  subject,  up  to  and  the  very  moment  he 
penned  that  warning;  and  about  one  year  after  he  pen- 
ned it,  he  wrote  Lafayette  that  he  considered  that  pro- 
hibition a  wise  measure,  expressing,  in  the  same  con- 
nection, his  hope  that  we  should  some  time  have  a  Con- 
federacy of  free  States. 

Bearing  this  in  mind,  and  seeing  that  sectionalism  has 
since  arisen  on  this  same  subject,  is  that  warning  a 
weapon  in  your  hands  against  us,  or  in  our  hands  against 
you?  Could  Washington  himself  speak,  would  he  cast 
the  blame  of  that  sectionilsm  upon  us,  who  sustain  his 
policy,  or  upon  you  who  repudiate  it?  We  respect  that 
warning  of  Washington,  and  we  commend  it  to  you,  to- 
gether with  his  example  pointing  tc  the  right  application 
of  it. 

WHAT    IS    CONSERVATISM? 

But  you  say  you  are  conservative — eminently  conser- 
vative— while  we  are  revolutionary,  destructive  or  some- 


410  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

thing  of  the  sort.  What  is  conservatism  ?  It  is  not  ad- 
herence to  the  old  and  tried,  against  the  new  and  un- 
tried ?  We  stick  to  contend  for  the  identical  old  policy, 
on  the  point  of  controversy,  which  was  adopted  by  our 
fathers  who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live; 
while  you  with  one  accord  reject,  and  scout,  and  spit 
upon  that  old  policy,  and  insist  upon  subsituting  something 
new.  True,  you  disagree  among  yourselves  as  to  what 
that  substitute  shall  be.  You  have  considerable  variety 
of  new  propositions  and  plans,  but  you  are  unanimous  in 
rejecting  and  denouncing  the  old  policy  of  the  fathers. 

Some  of  you  are  for  reviving  the  foreign  slave  trade; 
some  for  a  congressional  slave  code  for  the  territories; 
some  for  Congress  forbidding  the  territories  to  prohibit 
slavery  within  their  limits,  some  for  maintaining  slavery 
in  the  territories  through  the  judiciary;  some  for  the 
"gur-reat  pur-rinciple"  that  "if  one  man  would  enslave 
another,  no  third  man  should  object,"  fantastically  called 
"popular  sovereignty;"  but  never  a  man  among  you  in 
favor  of  Federal  prohibition  of  slavery  in  Federal  terri- 
tories, according  to  the  practice  of  our  fathers  who  framed 
the  government  under  which  we  live. 

Not  one  of  all  your  various  plans  can  show  a  precedent 
or  an  advocate  in  the  century  within  which  our  govern- 
ment originated.  Consider,  then,  whether  your  claim  of 
conservatism  for  yourselves,  and  your  charge  of  destruc- 
tiveness  against  us,  are  based  on  the  most  clear  and 
staple  foundations. 

WE    DENY    IT. 

Again,  you  say  we  have  made  the  slavery  question 
liiort  prominent  than  it  formerly  was.     We  den)'  it.     We 


AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  4 1  I 

admit  that  it  is  more  prominent,  but  we  deny  that  we 
made  it  so .  It  was  not  we,  but  you,  who  discarded  the 
old  policy  of  the  fathers.  We  resisted,  and  still  resist, 
your  innovation,  and  thence  comes  the  greater  promi- 
nence of  the  question.  Would  you  have  that  question 
reduced  to  its  former  proportions  ?  Go  back  to  that  old 
policy.  What  has  been  will  be  again,  under  the  same 
conditions.  If  you  would  have  the  peace  of  the  old 
times,  readopt  the  precepts  and  policy  of  the  old  limes. 
You  charge  that  we  stir  up  insurrections  among  your 
slaves.  We  deny  it;  and  what  is  your  proof?  Harper's 
Ferry!  John  Brown!  John  Brown  was  no  Republican; 
and  you  have  failed  to  implicate  a  single  Republican  in 
his  Harper's  Ferry  enterprise. 

If  any  member  of  our  party  is  guilty  in  that  matter, 
you  know  it  or  you  do  not  know  it.  Ifoyou  do  know  it 
you  are  inexcusable  to  not  designate  the  man  and  prove 
the  fact.  If  you  do  not  know  it,  you  are  inexcusable  to 
assert  it,  and  especially  to  persist  in  the  assertion  after 
you  have  tried  and  failed  to  make  the  proof.  You  need 
not  be  told  that  persisting  in  a  charge  which  one  does  not 
know  to  be  true,  is  simply  malicious  slander. 

"WE    DO    NOT    BELIEVE    IT." 

Some  of  you  admit  that  no  Republican  designedly 
aided  or  encouraged  the  Harper's  Ferry  affair,  but  still 
insist  that  our  doctrines  and  declarations  necessarily  lead 
to  such  results.  We  do  not  believe  it.  We  know  we 
hold  to  no  doctrines,  and  make  no  declarations  which, 
were  not  held  to  and  made  by  our  fathers  who  framed 
the  government  under  which  we  live.  You  never  dealt 
fairly  by  us  in  relation  to  this  affair.      When   it  occurred 


412  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

some  important  state  elections  were  near  at  hand,  and 
you  were  in  evident  glee  with  the  belief  that  by  charging 
the  blame  upon  us  you  could  get  an  advantage  of  us  in 
those  elections.  The  elections  came,  and  your  expecta- 
tions were  not  quite  fulfilled.  Every  Republican  man 
knew  that,  as  to  himself  at  least  your  charge  was  a  slan- 
der, and  he  was  not  much  inclined  by  it  to  cast  his  vote 
in  your  favor.  Republican  doctrines  and  declarations 
are  accompanied  with  a  continual  protest  against  any  in- 
terference whatever  with  your  slaves,  or  with  you  about 
your  slaves. 

Surely  this  does  not  encourage  them  to  revolt.  True, 
we  do,  in  common  with  our  fathers  who  framed  the  gov- 
ernment under  which  we  live,  declare  our  belief  that 
slavery  is  wrong;  but  the  slaves  do  not  hear  us  declare 
even  this.  For  anything  we  say  or  do  the  slaves  would 
scarcely  know  there  was  a  Republican  party.  I  believe 
they  would  not,  in  fact,  generally  know  it  but  for  your 
misrepresentations  of  us  in  their  hearing.  In  your  politi- 
cal contests  among  yourselves,  each  faction  charges  the 
other  with  sympathy  with  Black  Republicanism;  and 
then,  to  give  point  to  the  charge,  defines  Black  Republi- 
canism to  simply  be  insurrection,  blood  and  thunder 
among  the  slaves. 

INSURRECTION  IMPOSSIBLE. 

Slave  insurrections  are  no  more  common  now  than  they 
were  before  the  Republican  party  was  organized.  What 
induced  the  Southampton  insurrection,  twenty-eight 
years  ago,  in  which  at  least  three  times  as  many  lives 
were  lost  as  at  Harper's  Ferry  ?  You  can  scarcely  stretch 
your  very   elastic    fancy  to  the   conclusion    that    South- 


AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  41  3 

ampton  was  got  up  by  Black  Republicanism .  In  the 
present  state  of  things  in  the  United  States,  I  do  not 
think  a  general  or  even  a  very  extensive  slave  insurrec- 
tion is  possible.  The  indispensable  concert  of  action 
cannot  be  attained.  The  slaves  have  no  means  of  rapid 
communication;  nor  can  incendiary  free  men,  black  or 
white,  supply  it.  The  explosive  materials  are  every- 
where in  parcels;  but  there  neither  are,  nor  can  be  sup- 
plied, the  indispensable  connecting  trains. 

Much  is  said  by  Southern  people  about  the  affection  of 
slaves  for  their  masters  and  mistresses;  and  a  part  of  it, 
at  least,  is  true-  A  plot  for  an  uprising  could  scarcely  be 
devised  and  communicated  to  twenty  individuals  before 
some  one  of  them,  to  save  the  life  of  a  favorite  master  or 
mistress,  would  divulge  it.  This  is  the  rule;  and  the 
slave  revolution  in  Hayti  was  not  an  exception  to  it,  but 
a  case  occurring  under  peculiar  circumstances.  The  gun- 
powder plot  of  British  history,  though  not  connected 
with  slaves,  was  more  in  point.  In  that  case  only  about 
twenty  were  admitted  to  the  secret;  and  yet  one  of  them, 
in  his  anxiety  to  save  a  friend,  betrayed  the  plot  to  that 
friend,  and,  by  consequence,  averted  the  calamity. 

Occasional  poisonings  from  the  kitchen,  and  open  or 
stealthy  assassinations  in  the  field,  and  local  revolts  ex- 
tending to  a  score  or  so,  will  continue  to  occur  as  the 
natural  results  of  slavery,  but  no  general  insurrection  of 
slaves,  as  I  think,  can  happen  in  this  country  for  a  long 
time.  Whoever  much  fears,  or  much  hopes,  for  such  an 
event,  will  be  alike  disappointed. 

In  the  language  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  uttered  many  years 
ago,  "It  is  still  in  our  power  to  direct  the  process  of 
emancipation,  and  deportation  peaceably,    and  in    such 


414  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

slow  degrees,  as  that  the  evil  will  wear  off  insensibly; 
and  their  places  be,  pari  passu,  filled  up  by  free  white 
laborers.  If,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  left  to  force  itself  on, 
human  nature  must  shudder  at  the  prospect  held  up." 

Mr.  Jefferson  did  not  mean  to  say,  nor  do  I,  that  the 
power  of  emancipation  is  in  the  Federal  Government. 
He  spoke  of  Virginia;  and  as  to  the  power  of  emancipa- 
tion, I  speak  of  the  slave-holding  states  only. 

The  Federal  Government,  however,  as  we  insist,  has 
the  power  of  restraining  the  extension  of  the  institution 
— the  power  to  insure  that  a  slave  insurrection  shall  never 
occur  on  any  American  soil  which  is  uow  free  from 
slavery. 

JOHN    BROWN. 

John  Brown's  effort  was  peculiar.  It  was  not  a  slave 
insurrection.  It  was  an  attempt  by  white  men  to  get  up 
a  revolt  among  slaves,  in  whicb  the  slaves  refused  to  par- 
ticipate. In  fact,  it  was  so  absurd  that  the  slaves,  with 
all  their  ignorance,  saw  plainly  enough  it  could  not  suc- 
ceed. That  affair,  in  its  philosophy,  corresponds  with 
the  many  attempts,  related  in  history,  at  the  assassina- 
tions of  kings  and  emperors.  An  enthusiast  broods  over 
the  oppression  of  a  people  till  he  fancies  himself  com- 
missioned by  Heaven  to  liberate  them.  He  ventures  the 
attempt,  which  ends  in  little  else  than  in  his  own  execu- 
tion . 

Orsini's  attempt  on  Louis  Napoleon,  and  John  Brown's 
attempt  at  Harper's  Ferry,  were,  in  their  philosophy, 
precisely  the  same.  The  eagerness  to  cast  blame  on  old 
England  in  the  one  case,  and  on  new  England -in  the 
other,  does  not  disprove  the  sameness  of  the  two 
things. 


AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  415 

And  how  much  would  it  avail  you  if  you  could,  by  the 
use  of  John  Brown,  Helper's  book,  and  the  like,  break 
up  the  Republican  organization?  Human  action  can  be 
modified  to  some  extent,  but  human  nature  cannot  be 
changed.  There  is  a  judgment  and  a  feeling  against 
slavery  in  this  nation,  which  cast  at  least  a  million  and  a 
half  of  votes!  You  cannot  destroy  that  judgment  and 
feeling — that  sentiment — by  breaking  up  the  political 
organization  which  rallies  around  it. 

You  can  scarcely  scatter  and  disperse  an  army  which 
has  been  formed  into  order  in  the  face  of  your  heaviest 
fire;  hut  if  you  could,  how  much  would  you  gain  by  forc- 
ing the  sentiment  which  created  it  out  of  the  peaceful 
channel  of  the  ballot  box  into  some  other  channel? 
What  would  that  other  channel  probably  be?  Would 
the  number  of  John  Brown's  be  lessened  or  enlarged  by 
the  operation? 

"RULE    OR    RUIN." 

But  you  will  break  up  the  Union,  rather  than  submit 
to  a  denial  of  your  constitutional  rights. 

That  has  a  somewhat  reckless  sound;  but  it  would  be 
palliated,  if  not  fully  justified,  were  we  proposing,  by  the 
mere  force  of  numbers,  to  deprive  you  of  some  right, 
plainly  written  down  in  the  Constitution.  But  we  are 
proposing  no  such  thing. 

When  you  make  these  declarations,  you  have  a  specific 
and  well  understood  allusion  to  an  assumed  Constitution- 
al right  of  yours,  to  take  slaves  into  the  Federal  Terri- 
tories, and  to  hold  them  there  as  property.  But  no  such 
right  is  specifically  written  in  the  Constitution.  That 
instrument  is  literally  silent  about  any  such  right.      We, 


416  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

on  the  contrary,  deny  that  such  a  right  has  any  existence 
in  the  Constitution,  even  by  implication. 

Your  purpose,  then,  plainly  stated,  is,  that  you  will 
destroy  the  government  unless  you  be  allowed  to  con- 
strue and  enforce  the  Constitution  as  you  please,  on  all 
points  in  dispute  between  you  and  us.  You  will  rule  or 
ruin  in  all  events.  This,  plainly  stated,  is  your  language 
to  us. 

"not  quite  so." 

Perhaps  you  will  say  the  Supreme  Court  has  decided 
the  disputed  constitutional  question  in  your  favor.  Not 
quite  so.  But,  waiving  the  lawyers'  distinction  between 
dictum  and  decision,  the  court  has  decided  the  question 
for  you  in  a  sort  of  way.  The  court  has  substantially 
said  it  is  your  constitutional  right  to  take  slaves  into 
the  Federal  territories,  and  to  hold  them  there  as 
property. 

When  I  say  the  decision  was  made  in  a  sort  of  way,  I 
mean  it  was  made  in  a  divided  court,  by  a  bare  majority 
of  the  judges,  and  they  not  quite  agreeing  with  one  an- 
other in  the  reasons  for  making  it;  that  it  is  so  made  as 
that  its  avowed  supporters  disagree  with  one  another 
about  its  meaning;  and  that  it  was  mainly  based  upon  a 
mistaken  statement  of  fact — the  statement  in  the  opinion 
that  "the  right  of  property  in  a  slave  is  distinctly  and 
expressly  affirmed  in  the  Constitution." 

An  inspection  of  the  Constitution  will  show  that  the 
right  of  property  in  a  slave  is  not  distinctly  and  expressly 
affirmed  in  it.  Bear  in  mind  the  judges  do  not  pledge 
their  judicial  opinion  that  such  right  is  implicitly  affirm- 
ed in  the  Constitution;  but    they    pledge    their  veracity 


AT    COOPFR    INSTIUUTE.  417 

that  it  is  distinctly  and  expressly  affirmed  there — -'dis- 
tinctly"— that  is,  not  mingled  with  anything  else — "ex- 
pressly"— that  is,  in  words  meaning  just  that,  without 
the  aid   of  any  inference,   and  susceptible  of  no  other 


meaning. 


If  they  had  only  pledged  their  judicial  opinion,  that 
such  right  is  affirmed  in  the  instrument  by  implication, 
it  would  be  open  to  others  to  show  that,  neither  the  word 
"slave"  nor  "slavery"  is  to  be  found  in  the  Constitu- 
tion, nor  the  word  "property"  even,  in  any  connection 
with  language  alluding  to  the  things  slave  or  slavery,  and 
that  wherever,  in  that  instrument,  the  slave  is  alluded  to, 
he  is  called  "a  person,"  and  wherever  his  master's 
legal  right  in  relation  to  him  is  alluded  to,  it  is  spoken 
of  as  "service  or  labor  due,"  as  a  "debt"  payable  in  ser- 
vice or  labor. 

Also,  it  would  be  open  to  show,  by  cotemporaneous  his- 
tory, that  this  mode  of  alluding  to  slaves  and  slavery, 
instead  of  speaking  of  them,  was  employed  on  purpose  to 
exclude  from  the  Constitution  the  idea  that  there  could 
be  property  in  man. 

To  show  all  this  is  easy  and  certain. 

When  the  obvious  mistake  of  the  judges  shall  be 
brought  to  their  notice,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  expect  that 
they  will  withdraw  the  mistaken  statement,  and  recon- 
sider the  conclusion  based  upon  it? 

And  then  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  "our  fathers, 
who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live" — the 
men  who  made  the  Constitution — decided  this  same  con- 
stitutional question  in  our  favor,  long  ago — decided  it 
without  a  division  among  themselves  about  the  meaning 
of  it  after  it  was  made,  so  far  as  any   evidence    is   left, 


4i 8  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

without    basing    it    upon   any   mistaken    statements  of 
facts. 

Under  all  these  circumstances,  do  you  really  feel  your- 
self justified  to  break  up  this  government,  unless 
such  a  court  decision  as  yours  is  shall  be  at  once 
submitted  to  as  a  conclusive  and  final  rule  of  political 
action? 

But  you  will  not  abide  the  election  of  a  Repub- 
lican President.  In  that  supposed  event,  you  say,  you 
will  destroy  the  Union;  and  then,  you  say,  the  great 
crime  of  having  destroyed  it  will  be  upon  us? 

This  is  cool.  A  highwayman  holds  a  pistol  to  my 
ear,  and  mutters  through  his  teeth,  "Stand  and  de- 
liver, or  I  shall  kill  yon,  and  then  you  will  be  a 
murderer." 

To  be  sure,  what  the  robber  demanded  of  me — my 
money — was  my  own,  and  I  had  a  clear  right  to  keep  it; 
but  it  was  no  more  my  own  than  my  vote  is  my  own: 
and  the  threat  of  death  to  me,  to  extort  my  money 
and  the  threat  of  destruction  to  the  Union,  to  ex- 
tort my  vote,  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  in  prin- 
ciple. 

A  FEW  WORDS  TO  REPUBLICANS. 

A  few, words  now  to  Republicans.  It  is  exceedingly 
desirable  that  all  parts  of  this  great  confederacy  shall  be 
at  peace,  and  in  harmony,  one  with  another.  Let  us 
Republicans  do  our  part  to  have  it  so.  Even  though 
much  provoked,  let  us  do  nothing  through  passion  and  ill 
temper.  Even  though  the  Southern  people  will  not  so 
much  as  listen  to  us,  let  us  calmly  consider  their  de- 
mands, and  yield  to  them  if,  in  our  deliberate  view  of  our 


AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  419 

duty,  we  possibly  can.  Judging  by  all  they  say  and 
do,  and  by  the  subject  and  nature  of  their  contro- 
versy with  us,  let  us  determine,  if  we  can,  what  will 
satisfy  them. 

Will  they  be  satisfied  if  the  territories  be  uncondition- 
ally surrendered  to  them?  We  know  they  will  not.  In 
all  their  present  complaints  against  us,  the  territories  are 
scarcely  mentioned.  Invasions  and  insurrections  are  the 
rage  now.  Will  it  satisfy  them  if,  in  the  future,  we  have 
nothing  to  do  with  invasions  and  insurrections?  We  know 
it  will  not.  We  so  know  because  we  know  we  never  had 
anything  to  do  with  invasions  and  insurrections;  and  yet 
this  total  abstaining  does  not  exempt  us  from  the  charge 
and  the  denunciation. 

The  question  recurs,  what  will  satisfy  them?  Simply 
this:  We  must  not  only  let  them  alone,  but  we  must, 
somehow,  convince  them  that  we  do  let  them  alone.  This 
we  know  by  experience  is  no  easy  task.  We  have  been 
so  trying  to  couvince  them  from  the  very  beginning  of  our 
organization,  but  with  no  success.  In  all  our  platform 
and  speeches,  we  have  constantly  protested  our  purpose 
to  let  them  alone;  but  this  has  had  no  tendency  to  con- 
vince them.  Alike  unavailing  to  convince  them  is  the 
fact  that  they  have  never  detected  a  man  of  us  in  any  at- 
tempt to  disturb  them. 

These  natural  and  apparently  adequate  means  all  fail- 
ing, what  will  convince  them?  This,  and  this  only: 
Cease  to  call  slavery  wrong,  and  join  them  in  calling  it 
right .  And  this  must  be  done  thoroughly — done  in  acts 
as  well  as  words.  Silence  will  not  be  tolerated — we  must 
place  ourselves  avowedly  with  them.  Douglas'  new  se- 
dition law  must  be  enacted,  and  enforced,  suppressing 
all  declarations  that  slavery  is  wrong,    whether  made  in 


420  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

politics,  in  presses,  in  pulpits,  or  in  private.  We  must 
arrest  and  return  their  fugitive  slaves  with  greedy  pleas- 
ure. We  must  pull  down  our  Free  State  Constitutions. 
The  whole  atmosphere  must  be  disinfected  from  all  taint 
of  opposition  to  slavery,  before  they  will  cease  to  believe 
that  all  their  troubles  proceed  from  us. 

I  am  quite  aware  they  do  not  state  their  case  precisely 
in  this  way.  Most  of  them  would  probably  say  to  us, 
"Let  us  alone,  do  nothing  to  us,  and  say  what  you  please 
about  slavery. "  But  we  do  let  them  alone — have  never 
disturbed  them — so  that,  after  all,  it  is  what  we  say 
which  dissatisfies  them.  They  will  continue  to  accuse  us 
of  doing  until  we  cease  saying. 

I  am  also  aware  they  have  not,  as  yet,  in  terms,  de- 
manded the  overthrow  of  our  Free  State  Constitntions. 
Yet  those  constitutions  declare  the  wrong  of  slavery  with 
more  solemn  emphasis  than  do  all  other  sayings  against 
it;  and  when  all  other  sayings  shall  have  been  silenced, 
the  overthrow  of  these  constitutions  will  be  demanded, 
and  nothing  be  left  to  resist  the  demand.  It  is  nothing 
to  the  contrary  that  they  do  not  demand  the  whole  of  this 
just  now.  Demanding  what  they  do,  and  for  the  reason 
they  do,  they  can  voluntary  stop  nowhere  short  of  this 
consummation.  Holding  as  they  do,  that  slavery  is  mor- 
ally right  and  socially  elevating,  they  can  not  cease  to 
demand  a  full  national  recognition  of  it,  as  a  legal  right 
and  a  social  blessing. 

Nor  can  we  justifiably  withhold  this  on  any  ground, 
save  our  conviction  that  slavery  is  wrong.  If  slavery  is 
right,  all  words,  acts,  laws  and  constitutions  against  it, 
are  themselves  wrong,  and  should  be  silenced  and  swept 
away.      If  it  is  right,  we  can  not  justly  object  to  its  na- 


AT   COOPER    INSTITUTE.  421 

tionality — its  universality,  if,  it  is  wrong,  they  can  not 
justly  insist  upon  its  extension— its  enlargement.  All 
they  ask  we  could  readily  grant,  if  they  thought  slavery 
right;  all  we  ask  they  could  readily  grant,  if  they  thought 
it  wrong. 

Their  thinking  it  right,  and  our  thinking  it  wrong,  is 
the  precise  fact  upon  which  depends  the  whole  contro- 
versy. Thinking  it  right,  as  they  do,  they  are  not  to 
blame  for  desiring  its  full  recognition,  as  being  right;  but 
thinking  it  wrong,  as  we  do,  can  we  yield  to  them?  Can 
we  cast  our  votes  with  their  view  and  against  our  own? 
in  view  of  our  moral,  social  and  political  responsibility, 
can  we  do  this? 

Wrong  as  we  may  think  slavery  is,  we  can  yet  afford  to 
let  it  alone  where  it  is,  because  that  much  is  due  to  the 
necessity  arising  from  its  actual  presence  in  the  nation; 
but  can  we,  while  our  votes  will  prevent  it,  allow  it  to 
spread  into  the  national  territories,  and  to  overrun  us 
here  in  these  free  states? 

If  our  sense  of  duty  forbids  this,  then  let  us  stand  by 
our  duty  fearlessly  and  effectively.  Let  us  be  diverted 
by  none  of  those  sophistical  contrivances  wherewith  we 
are  so  industriously  plied  and  belabored — contrivances, 
such  as  groping  for  some  middle  ground  between  the 
right  and  the  wrong,  vain  as  the  search  for  a  man  who 
should  be  neither  a  living  man  nor  a  dead  man — such  as 
Union  appeals,  beseeching  true  Union  men  to  yield  to 
disunionist,  reversing  the  Divine  rule,  and  calling,  not 
the  sinners,  but  the  righteous  to  repentance — such 
as  invocations  of  Washington — imploring  men  to  un- 
say what  Washington  said — and  undo  what  Washing- 
ton did. 


422  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Neither  let  us  be  slandered  from  our  duty  by  false  ac- 
cusations against  us,  nor  frightened  from  it  by  menaces 
of  destruction  to  the  government,  nor  of  dungeons  to 
ourselves. 

Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might;  and  in  that 
faith  let  us,  to  the  end  dare  do  our  duty  as  we  under- 
stand it. 


•:0: 


LINCOLN'S    RAIL  SPLITTING  SPEECH 


[Delivered  at  the  Republican  State  Convention 
in  Decutur,  111.,  May  9,  i860.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been 
carried  bodily  upon  the  stage,  and  soon  "Old  John 
Hanks"  (a  democrat)  came  into  the  midst  of  the  assemb- 
lage bearing  on  his  shoulders  "two  small  triangular  heart 
rails"  surmounted  by  a  banner  with  this  inscription: 

"Two  rails  from  a  lot  made  by  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
John  Hanks,  in  the  Sangamon  bottom,  in  the  year  1830." 
It  is  said  that  Lincoln  blushed,  but  seemed  to  shake  with 
inward  laughter.  Great  were  the  shouts  and  calls  for 
Lincoln.] 

Gentlemen: —  I  suppose  you  want  to  know  something 
about  those  things  (pointing  to  old  John  and  the  rails). 
Well,  the  truth  is,  John  Hanks  and  I  did  make  rails  in 
the  Sangamon  bottom.  I  don't  know  whether  we  made 
those  rails  or  not;  the  fact  is  I  don't  think  they  are  a  cred- 
it to  the  maker  (laughing  as  he  spoke),  but  I  do  know 
this;  I  made  rails  then,  and  I  think  I  could  make  better 
ones  than  these  now. 

:o: 


FIRST  TALK  AFTER  HIS  NOMINATION. 


[The  telegram  was  received  in  the  Journal  office  at 
Springfield.  Immediately  everybody  wanted  to  shake 
his  hand;  and  so  long  as  he  was  willing,  they  continued 
to  congratulate  him.  J 

Gentlemen:  (with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye)  you  had  bet- 
ter come  up  and  shake  my  hand  while  you  can;  honors 
elevate  some  men,  you  know.  *  *  *  Well,  gentle- 
men, there  is  a  little  woman  at  our  house  who  is  proba- 
bly more  interested  in  this  dispatch  than  I  am;  and 
if  you    will   excuse    me,    I    will    take   it   up  and  let  her 

see  it. 

:o: 

FIRST  SPEECH  AFTER  HIS  NOMINATION. 


[To  the  Committee,  Springfield,  111.,  May  19,  i860.] 
Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee: — 
I  tender  to  you,  and  through  you  to  the  Republican 
National  Convention,  and  all  the  people  represented  in 
it,  my  profoundest  thanks  for  the  high  honor  done  me, 
which  you  now  formally  announce.  Deeply  and  even 
painfully  sensible  of  the  great  responsibility  which  I 
could  wish  had  fallen  upon  some  one  of  the  far  more  em- 
inent men  and  experienced  statesmen  whose  distinguish- 
ed names  were  before  the  convention,  I  shall  by  your 
leave  consider  more  fully  the  resolutions  of  the  Conven- 
tion denominated  the  platform,  and,  without  unnecessary 
and  unreasonable  delay,  respond  to  you,  Mr.  Chairman, 
in  writing,  not  doubting  that  the  platform  will  be  found 
satisfactory  and  the  nomination  gratefully  accepted.  And 
now  I  will  not  longer  defer  the  pleasure  of  taking  you, 
and  each  of  you,  by  the  hand. 

(423) 


424  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

GOOD-BYE  SPEECH  AT  SPRINGFIELD. 


[Delivered  at  Springfield,  111.,  Feb.  11,  1861,  the  day 
on  which  Mr.  Lincoln  started  for  Washington.] 

Friends: — No  one  who  has  never  been  placed  in  a  like 
position  can  understand  my  feelings  at  this  hour,  nor  the 
oppressive  sadness  I  feel  at  this  parting.  More  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  I  have  lived  among  you,  and  during 
that  time  I  have  received  nothing  but  kindness  at  your 
hands. 

Here  I  have  lived  from  my  youth,  until  now  I  am  an 
old  man.  Here  the  most  sacred  ties  of  earth  were  as- 
sumed. Here  all  my  children  were  born,  and  here  one 
of  them  lies  buried.  To  you,  dear  friends,  I  owe  all  that 
I  have,  all  that  I  am,  All  the  strange  checkered  past 
seems  to  crowd  now  upon  my  mind.  To-day  I  leave  you. 
I  go  to  assume  a  task  more  difficult  than  that  which  de- 
volved upon  Washington.  Unless  the  Great  God  who 
inspired  him,  shall  be  with  and  inspire  me,  I  must  fail; 
but  if  the  same  Omniscient  mind  and  Almighty  arm  that 
directed  and  protected  him,  shall  guide  and  support  me, 
I  shall  not  fail — I  shall  succeed.  Let  us  all  pray  that  the 
God  of  our  fathers  shall  not  forsrke  us  now.  To  Him  I 
commend  you  all.  Permit  me  to  ask  that,  with  equal 
sincerity  and  faith,  you  will  invoke  His  wisdom  and 
guidance  forme.  With  these  few  words  I  must  leave 
you;  for  how  long  I  know  not.  Friends,  one  and  all,  I 
must  now  bid  you  an  affectionate  farewell. 


.0: 


AT  INDEPENDENCE  HALL,  PHILA. 


The  object  of  Lincoln's  visit,  Feb.   1,   1861,    to    Inde- 
pendence Hall,  was  to  assist  in  raising  the    national  flag 


53 

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426  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

over  the  hall.  Arrangements  had  been  made  for  the  per- 
formance of  this  ceremony,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  escort- 
ed to  the  platform  prepared  for  the  purpose,  and  was  in- 
vited, in  a  brief  address,  to  raise  the  flag.  He  respond- 
ed in  a  patriotic  speech,  announcing  his  cheerful  compli- 
ance with  the  request.] 

Ladies  and  Gentleman: — The  future  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  people.  It  is  on  such  an  occasion  as  this  we  can 
reason  together,  reaffirm  our  devotion  to  the  country  and 
the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Let 
us  make  up  our  minds  that  whenever  we  do  put  a  new 
star  upon  our  banner,  it  shall  be  a  fixed  one,  never  to  be 
dimmed  by  the  horrors  of  war,  but  brightened  by  the 
contentment  and  prosperity  of  peace.  Let  us  go  on  to 
extend  the  area  of  our  usefulness,  and  add  star  upon  star 
until  their  light  shall  shine  over  five  hundred  millions  of 
free  and  happy  people. 

[Then  he  performed  his  part  in  the  ceremony,  amidst  a 

thundering  discharge  of  artillerjy. 

:o: 


LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  IN   WASHINGTON. 


[Delivered  Wednesday,  Feb.  27,  1861,  at  his  Hotel.] 
[On  Wednesday,  the  27th,  the   Mayor    and    Common 
Council  of  the  city  waited  upon  Mr.  Lincoln  and  tender- 
ed him  a  welcome.      He  replied  to  them  as  follows:] 

Mr.  Mayor: — I  thank  you,  and  through  you  the  muni- 
cipal authorities  of  this  city  who  accompany  you,  for  this 
welcome.  And  as  it  is  the  first  time  in  my  life  since  the 
present  phase  of  politics  has  presented  itself  in  this  coun- 
try, that  I  have  said  anything  publicly  within  a  region  of 
country  where  the  institution  of  slavery  exists,  I  will 
take  this  occasion  to  say  that  I  feel  very  much  of  the  ill- 


IN    WASHINGTON. 


427 


feelings  that  has  existed  and  still  exists  between  the  peo- 
ple in  the  sections  from  which  I  came  and  the  people 
here,  is  dependent  upon  a  misunderstanding  of  one  an- 
other. I  therefore  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  as- 
sure you,  Mr  Mayor,  and  all  the  gentlemen  present,  that 
I  have  not  now,  and  never  have  had,  any  other  than  as 
kindly  feelings  towards  you  as  the  people  of  my  own 
section.      I  have  not  now,  and  never  have  had,  any  dis- 


[UNITED  STATES  CAPITOL.] 

position  to  treat  you  in  an)-  respect  otherwise  than  as  my 
own  neighbors.  I  have  not  now  any  purpose  to  with- 
hold from  you  any  of  the  benefits  of  the  Constitution, 
under  any  circumstances,  that  I  would  not  feel  myself  con- 
strained to  withhold  from  my  own  neighbors;  and  I  hope, 
in  a  word,  that  when  we  shall  become  better  acquainted 
— and  I  say  it  with  great  confidence — we  shall  like  each 
other  the  more.  I  thank  you  for  the  kindness  of  this  re- 
ception. 


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oo 


[428] 


LINCOLN'S  FIRST  INAUGURAL   ADDRESS. 

Delivered  March  4,    1861,   at  Washington. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  United  States: — Incom- 
pliance with  a  custom  as  old  as  the  government  itself,  I 
appear  before  you  to  address  you  briefly,  and  to  take,  in 
your  presence,  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  to  be  taken  by  the  President  before  he 
enters  on  the  execution  of  his  office. 

POSITION    STATED. 

I  do  not  consider  it   necessary,  at  present,  for   me   to 

discuss  those  matters  of  administration  about  which  there 

is    no  special     anxiety    or   excitement.        Apprehension 

seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the  Southern   states, 

that,  by  the   accession    of    a   republican    administration, 

their  property  and  their  peace  and  personal  security    are 

to  be  endangered  .      There  has  never  been  any  reasonable 

cause  for  such  apprehension.      Indeed,    the   most   ample 

evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed,  and 
been  open  to  their  inspection.      It  is  found   in   nearly  all 

the  published  speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I 
do  but  quote  from  one  of  those  speeches,  when  I  declare 
that  "I  have  no  purpose  directly  or  indirectly,  to  inter- 
fere with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  states  where  it 
exists."  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so;  and  I 
have  no  inclination  to  do  so.  Those  who  nominated  and 
elected  me  did  so  with  the  full  knowledge  that  I  had  made 
this,  and  made  many  similar  declarations,  and  had  never 

[429] 


430  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

recanted  them.  And  more  than  this,  they  placed  in  the 
platform,  for  my  acceptance,  and  as  a  law  to  themselves 
and  to  me,  the  clear  and  emphatic  resolution  which  I 
now  read: 

"Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the 
rights  of  the  states,  and  especially  the  right  of  each  state 
to  order  and  control  its  own  domestic  institutions  accord- 
ing to  its  own  judgement  exclusively,  is  essential  to  that 
balance  of  power  on  which  the  perfection  and  endurance 
of  our  political  fabric  depend;  and  we  denounce  the  law- 
less invasion  by  armed  force  of  the  soil  of  any  state  or 
territory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext,  as  among  the 
gravest  of  crimes." 

I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments;  and  in  doing  so  I 
only  press  upon  the  public  attention  the  most  conclusive 
evidence  of  which  the  case  is  susceptible,  that  the 
property,  peace,  and  security  of  no  section  are  to 
be  in  anywise  endangered  by  the  now  incoming  admin- 
istration. 

I  add,  too,  that  all  the  protection,  which,  consistently 
with  the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  can  be  given, 
will  be  given  to  all  the  states  when  lawfully  demand- 
ed, for  what  ever  cause,  as  cheerfully  to  one  section  as 
to  another. 

There  is  much  controversy  about  the  delivering  up  of 
fugitives  from  service  or  labor.  The  clause  I  now  read 
is  as  plainly  written  in  the  Constitution  as  any  other  of 
its  provisions. 

•  'No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  state  under 
the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  conse- 
quence of  any  law  or  regulation  therein;  be    discharged 


FIRST     INAUGURAL    ADDRESS.  431 

from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on 
claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  of  labor  may  be 
due." 

It  is  scarcely  questioned  that  this  provision  was  in- 
tended by  those  who  made  it  for  the  reclaiming  of  what 
we  call  fugitive  slaves;  and  the  intention  of  the  lawgiver 
is  the  law. 

* 

All  members  of  Congress  swear  their  support  to  the 
whole  Constitution — to  this  provision  as  well  as  any  other. 
To  the  proposition,  then,  that  slaves  whose  cases  come 
within  the  terms  of  this  clause  "shall  be  delivered  up." 
their  oaths  are  unanimous.  Now,  if  they  would  make 
the  effort  in  good  temper,  could  they  not,  with  nearly 
equal  unanimity,  frame  and  pass  a  law  by  means  of  which 
to  keep  good  that  unanimous  oath? 

There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  whether  this  clause 
should  be  enforced  by  national  or  by  state  authority;  but 
surely  that  difference  is  not  a  very  material  one.  If  the 
slave  is  to  be  surrendered,  it  can  be  but  of  little  conse- 
quence to  him  or  to  others  by  which  authority  it  is  done; 
and  should  any  one,  in  any  case,  be  content  that  this  oath 
shall  go  unkept  on  a  mere  substantial  controversy  as  to 
how  it  shall  be  kept? 

Again,  in  any  law  upon  this  subject,  ought  not  all  the 
safeguards  of  liberty  known  in  civilized  and  humane  jur- 
isprudence to  be  introduced,  so  that  a  free  man  be  not, 
in  any  case,  surrendered  as  a  slave?  And  might  it  not 
be  well  at  the  same  time  to  provide  by  law  for  the  en- 
forcement of  that  clause  in  the  Constitution  which  guar- 
antees that  "the  citizens  of  each  state  shall  be  entitled 
to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  sev- 
eral states? 


432  LINCOLN  S    STORIES    AND    SPEECHES. 

NO    MENTAL    RESERVATION. 

I  take  the  official  oath  to-day  with  no  mental  reserva- 
tions, and  with  no  purpose  to  construe  the  Constitution 
or  laws  by  any  hypercritical  rules;  and  while  I  do  not 
choose  now  to  specify  particular  acts  of  Congress  as  prop- 
er to  be  enforced,  I  do  suggest  that  it  will  be  much  safer 
for  all,  both  in  official  and  private  stations,  to  conform  to 
and  abide  by  all  those  acts  which  stand  unrepealed,  than 
to  violate  any  of  them,  trusting  to  find  impunity  in  hav- 
ing them  held  to  be  unconstitutional. 

It  is  seventy-two  years  since  the  first  inauguration  of 
a  President  under  our  national  Constitution.  During  that 
period  fifteen  different  and  very  distinguished  citizens 
have  in  succession  administered  the  executive  branch  of 
the  government.  They  have  conducted  it  through  many 
perils,  and  generally  with  great  success.  Yet,  with  all 
this  scope  for  precedent,  I  now  enter  upon  the  same  task 
for  the  brief  constitutional  term  of  four  years,  under  great 
and  peculiar  difficulties. 

"I   HOLD  THE  UNION  OF  THESE  STATES  IS  PERPETUAL." 

A  disruption  of  the  Federal  Union,  heretofore  only 
menaced,  is  now  formidably  attempted.  I  hold  that  in 
the  contemplation  of  universal  law  and  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  Union  of  these  states  is  perpetual.  Perpetuity 
is  implied,  if  not  expressed,  in  the  fund  amental  law  of 
all  national  governments.  It  is  safe  to  assert  that  no 
government  proper  ever  had  a  provision  in  its  organic 
law  for  its  own  termination.  Continue  to  execute  all  the 
express  provisions  of  our  national  Constitution,  and  the 
Union  will  endure  forever,  it  being  impossible  to  destroy 
except  by  some  action  not  provided  for  in  the  instrument 
itself. 


FIRST    INAUGURAL    ADDRESS.  433 

Again,  if  the  United  States  be  not  a  government  prop- 
er, but  an  association  of  states  in  the  nature  of  a  con- 
tract merely,  can  it,  as  a  contract,  be  peaceably  unmade 
by  less  than  all  the  parties  who  made  it?  One  party  to 
a  contract  may  violate  it — break  it,  so  to  speak;  but  does 
it  not  require  all  to  lawfully  rescind  it?  Descending  from 
these  general  principles,  we  find  the  proposition  that  in 
legal  contemplation  the  Union  is  perpetual,  confirmed  by 
the  history  of  the  Union  itself. 

The  Union  is  much  older  than  the  Constitution.  It 
was  formed,  in  fact,  by  the  Articles  of  Association  in 
1774.  It  was  matured  and  continued  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  in  1776.  It  was  further  matured,  and 
the  faith  of  all  the  then  thirteen  states  expressly  plighted 
and  engaged  that  it  should  be  perpetual,  by  the  Articles 
of  the  Confederation,  in  1778;  and,  finally,  in  1787,  one 
of  the  declared  objects  for  ordaining  and  establishing  the 
Constitution  was  to  form  a  more  perfect  union.  But  if 
the  destruction  of  the  Union  by  one  or  by  part  only  of  the 
states  be  lawfully  possible,  the  Union  is  less  perfect  than 
before,  the  Constitution  having  lost  the  vital  element  of 
perpetuity. 

It  follows  from  these  views  that  no  state,  upon  its 
own  mere  motion,  can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union;  that 
resolves  and  ordinances  to  that  effect  are  legally  void, 
and  that  acts  of  violence  within  any  state  or  states 
against  the  authority  of  the  United  States  are  in- 
surrectionary or  revolutionary,  according  to  circum- 
stances. 

I  therefore  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken,   and    to  the  extent 


434  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

of  my  ability,  I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself 
expressly  enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union 
shall  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  states.  Doing  this, 
which  I  deem  to  be  only  a  simple  duty  on  my  part,  I  shall 
perfectly  perform  it,  so  far  as  is  practicable,  unless  my 
rightful  masters,  the  American  people,  shall  withhold  the 
requisition,  or  in  some  authoritative  manner  direct  the 
contrary. 

I  trust  this  will  not  be  regarded  as  a  menace,  but  only 
as  the  declared  purpose  of  the  Union  that  it  will  consti- 
tutionally defend  and  maintain  itself. 

In  doing  this  there  need  be  no  bloodshed  or  violence, 
and  there  shall  be  none  unless  it  is  forced  upon  the  na- 
tional authority. 

WHAT    SHALL    BE    DONE? 

The  power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  oc 
cupy,  and  possess  the  property  and  places  belonging  to 
the  government,  and  collect  the  duties  and  imposts;  but 
beyond  what  may  be  necessary  for  these  objects  there 
will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or  among 
the  people  anywhere. 

Where  hostility  to  the  United  States  shall  be  so  great 
and  so  universal  as  to  prevent  competent  resident  citizens 
from  holding  federal  offices,  there  will  be  no  attempt  to 
force  obnoxious  strangers  among  the  people  that  object. 
While  strict  legal  right  may  exist  of  the  government  to 
enforce  the  exercise  of  these  offices,  the  attempt  to  do  so 
would  be  so  irritating,  and  so  nearly  impracticable  with- 
al, that  I  deem  it  best  to  forego  for  the  time  the  uses 
of  such  offices. 


FIRST    INAUGURAL    ADDRESS.  435 

"The  mails,  unless  repelled,  will  continue  to  be  fur- 
nished in  all  parts  of  the  Union. 

"So  far  as  possible,  the  people  everywhere  shall  have 
that  sense  of  perfect  security  which  is  most  favorable  to 
calm  thought  and  reflection. 

"The  course  here  indicated  will  be  followed,  unless 
current  events  and  experience  shall  show  a  modification 
or  change  to  be  proper;  and  in  every  case  and  exigency 
my  best  discretion  will  be  exercised  according  to  the  cir- 
cumstances actually  existing,  and  with  a  view  and  hope 
of  a  peaceable  solution  of  the  national  troubles,  and  the 
restoration  of  fraternal  sympathies  and  affections. 

"That  there  are  persons  in  one  section  or  another,  who 
seek  to  destroy,  the  Union  at  all  events,  and  are  glad  of 
any  pretext  to  do  it,  I  will  neither  affirm  nor  deny.  But 
if  there  be  such,  I  need  address  no  word  to  them." 

A    WORD    TO    THOSE    WHO    LOVE    THE  UNION. 

To  those,  however,  who  love  the  Union,  may  I  not 
speak,  before  entering  upon  so  grave  a  matter  as  the  de- 
struction of  our  national  fabric,  with  all  its  benefits,  its 
memories  and  its  hopes?  Would  it  not  be  well  to  ascer- 
tain why  we  do  it?  Will  you  hazard  so  desperate  a 
step,  while  any  portion  of  the  ills  you  fly  from  have  no 
real  existence?  Will  you,  while  the  certain  ills  you  fly 
to  are  no  greater  than  all  the  real  ones  you  fly  from? 
Will  you  risk  the  commission  of  so  fearful  a  mistake? 
All  profess  to  be  content  in  the  Union  if  all  constitution- 
al rights  can  be  maintained.  Is  it  true,  then,  that  any 
right,  plainly  written  in  the  Constitution,  has  been  de- 
nied? I  think  not.  Happily  the  human  mind  is  so  con- 
stituted that  no  party  can  reach  to  the  audacity  of  doing 
this. 


436  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

Think,  if  you  can,  of  a  single  instance  in  which  a 
plainly-written  provision  of  the  Constitution  has  ever 
been  denied.  If,  by  the  mere  force  of  numbers,  a  ma- 
jority should  deprive  a  minority  of  any  clearly-written 
constitutional  right,  it  might,  in  a  moral  point  of  view, 
justify  revolution;  it  certainly  would,  if  such  right  were  a 
vital  one.      But  such  is  not  our  case. 

All  the  vital  rights  of  minorities  and  of  individuals  are 
so  plainly  assured  to  them  by  affirmations  and  negations 
guarantees  and  prohibitions  in  the  Constitution,  that  con- 
troversies never  arise  concerning  them.  But  no  organic 
law  can  ever  be  framed  with  provision  specifically  ap- 
plicable to  every  question  which  may  occur  in  practical 
administration.  No  foresight  can  anticipate,  nor  any 
document  of  reasonable  length  contain,  express  provis- 
ions for  all  possible  questions.  Shall  fugitives  from  la- 
bor be  surrendered  by  national  or  by  state  authorities? 
The  Constitution  does  not  expressly  say.  Must  Congress 
protect  slavery  in  the  territories?  The  Constitution  does 
not  expressly  say.  From  questions  of  this  class,  spring 
all  our  constitutional  controversies,  and  we  divide  upon 
them  into  majorities  and  minorities. 

THE    MAJORITIES    VS.    THE    MINORITIES. 

If  the  minority  did  not  acquiesce,  the  majority  must, 
or  the  government  must  cease.  There  is  no  alternative 
for  continuing  the  government  acquiescence  on  the  one 
side  or  the  other.  If  a  minority  in  such  a  case  will  se- 
cede rather  than  acquiesce,  they  make  a  precedent,  which, 
in  time,  will  ruin  and  divide  them,  for  a  minority  of  their 
own  will  secede  from  them  whenever  a  majority  refuses 
to  be  controlled  by  such  a  minority.     For   instance,  why 


FIKST    INAUGURAL    ADDRESS.  43/ 

not  any  portion  of  a  new  confedracy  a  year  or  two  hence, 
arbitrarily  secede  again,  precisely  as  portions  of  the  pres- 
ent Union  now  claim  to  secede  from  it?  All  who  cherish 
disunion  sentiments  are  now  being  educated  to  the  exact 
temper  of  doing  this.  Is  there  such  a  perfect  identity  of 
interests  among  the  States  to  compose  a  new  Union  as 
to  produce  harmony  only  and  prevent  renewed  secession? 
Plainly,  the  central  idea  of  secession  is  the  essence  of  an- 
archy. 

A  majority  held  in  check  by  constitutional  check  limi- 
tation, and  always  changing  easily  with  deliberate  changes 
of  popular  opinions  and  sentiments,  is  the  only  true  sov- 
ereign of  a  free  people.  Whoever  rejects  it,  does,  of  ne- 
cessity, fly  to  anarchy  or  despotism.  Unanimity  is  im- 
possible; the  rule  of  a  minority,  as  a  permanent  arrange- 
ment, is  wholly  inadmissible.  So  that,  rejecting  the  ma- 
jority principle,  anarchy  or  despotism,  in  some  form,  is 
all  that  is  left. 

I  do  not  forget  the  position  assumed  by  some  that  con- 
stitutional questions  are  to  be  decided  by  the  Supreme 
Court,  nor  do  I  deny  that  such  decisions  must  be  binding 
in  any  case  upon  the  parties  to  a  suit,  as  to  the  object  of 
that  suit,  while  they  are  also  entitled  to  a  very  high  respect 
and  consideration  in  all  parallel  cases  by  all  other  de- 
partments of  the  Government;  and  while  it  is  obviously 
possible  that  such  decision  may  be  erroneous  in  any  giv 
en  case,  still  the  evil  following  it,  being  limited  to  that 
particular  case,  with  the  chance  that  it  may  be  overrul- 
ed and  never  become  a  precedent  for  other  cases,  can  bet- 
ter be  borne  than  could  the  evils  of  a  different  prac- 
tice. 

At  the  same  time  the  candid  citizen  must  confess  that, 


438  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

if  the  policy  of  the  government  upon  the  vital  question 
affecting  the  whole  people  is  to  be  irrevocably  fixed  by 
the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  instant  they  are 
made,  as  in  ordinary  litigation  between  parties  in  per- 
sonal action,  the  people  will  have  ceased  to  be  their  own 
masters,  unless  having  to  that  extent  practically  resigned 
their  government  into  the  hands  of  that  eminent  tribunal. 
Nor  is  there  in  this  view  any  assault  upon  the  court  or 
the  judges.  It  is  a  duty  from  which  they  may  not  shrink, 
to  decide  cases  properly  brought  before  them;  and  it  is 
no  fault  ot  theirs  if  others  seek  to  turn  their  decisions  to 
political  purposes.  One  section  of  our  country  believes 
slavery  is  right  and  ought  to  be  extended,  while  the  other 
believes  it  is  wrong  and  ought  not  to  be  extended;  and 
this  is  the  only  substantial  dispute;  and  the  fugitive  slave 
clause  of  the  Constitution  and  the  law  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  foreign  slave  trade,  are  each  as  well  enforced, 
perhaps,  as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a  community  where 
the  moral  sense  of  the  people  imperfectly  supports  the 
law  itself.  The  great  body  of  the  people  abide  by  the 
dry  legal  obligation  in  both  cases,  and  a  few  break  over 
in  each.  This,  I  think,  cannot  be  perfectly  cured,  and 
it  would  be  worse,  in  both  cases,  after  the  separation  of 
the  sections  than  before.  The  foreign  slave  trade,  now 
imperfectly  suppressed,  would  be  ultimately  revived,  with- 
out restriction  in  one  section;  while  fugitive  slaves,  now 
only  partially  surrendered,  wonld  not  be  surrendered  at 
all  by  the  other. 

we  cannot  separate. 

Physically  speaking  we  cannot  separate;  we  cannot  re- 
move our  respective  sections  from  each    other,  nor  build 


FIRST    ENAUGURAL    ADDRESS.  439 

an  impassable  wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife 
may  be  divorced,  and  go  out  of  the  presence  and  beyond 
the  reach  of  each  other,  but  the  different  parts  of  our 
country  cannot  do  this.  They  can  but  remain  face  to 
fare,  and  intercourse,  either  amicable  or  hostile,  must 
continue  between  them.  Is  it  possible,  then,  to  make 
that  intercourse  more  advantageous  or  more  satisfactory 
after  separation  than  before?  Can  aliens  make  treaties 
easier  than  friends  can  make  laws?  Can  treaties  be  more 
faithfully  enforced  between  aliens  than  laws  can  among 
friends?  Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  cannot  fight  al- 
ways; and  when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no 
gain  on  either,  you  cease  fighting,  the  identical  questions 
as  to  terms  of  intercourse  are  again  upon  you. 

THE    PEOPLE. 

This  country,  with  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the  peo- 
ple who  inhabit  it.  Whenever  they  shall  grow  weary  of 
the  existing  government,  they  can  exercise  their  constitu- 
tional right  of  amending,  or  their  revolutionary  right  to 
dismember  or  overthrow  it.  I  cannot  be  ignorant  of  the 
fact  that  many  worthy  and  patriotic  citizens  are  desirous 
of  having  the  national  Constitution  amended.  While  I 
make  no  recommendation  of  amendment,  I  fully  recog- 
nize the  full  authority  of  the  people  over  the  whole  sub- 
ject, to  be  exercised  in  either  of  the  modes  prescribed  in 
the  instrument  itself,  and  I  should,  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances, favor  rather  than  oppose  a  fair  opportunity 
being  afforded  the  people  to  act  upon  it. 

I  will  venture  to  add,  that  to  me  the  convention  mode 
seems  preferable,  in  that  it  allows  amendments  to  origin- 
ate  with  the    people   themselves,  instead  of  only  permit- 


440  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

ting  them  to  take  or  reject  propositions  originated  by 
others  not  especially  chosen  for  the  purpose,  and  which 
might  not  be  precisely  such  as  they  would  wish  either  to 
accept  or  refuse.  I. understand  that  a  proposed  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  (which  amendment,  however,  I 
have  not  seen)  has  passed  Congress,  to  the  effect  that 
the  Federal  Government  shall  never  interfere  with  the 
domestic  institutions  of  States,  including  that  of  persons 
held  to  service.  To  avoid  misconstruction  of  what  I 
have  said,  I  depart  from  my  purpose  not  to  speak  of  par- 
ticular amendments,  so  far  as  to  say  that,  holding  such  a 
provision  to  now  be  implied  constitutional  law,  I  have  no 
objection  to  its  being  made  express  and  irrevocable. 

THE    ULTIMATE    JUSTICE  OF    THE    PEOPLE. 

The  chief  magistrate  derives  all  his  authority  from  the 
people,  and  they  have  conferred  none  upon  him  to  fix  the 
terms  for  the  separation  of  the  States.  The  people,  them- 
selves, also,  can  do  this  if  they  choose,  but  the  executive, 
as  such,  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  *  His  duty  is  to  ad- 
minister the  present  government  as  it  came  to  his  hands, 
and  to  transmit  it  unimpaired  by  him  to  his  successor. 
Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient  confidence  in  the  ulti- 
mate justice  of  the  people?  Is  there  any  better  or  equal 
hope  in  the  world?  In  our  present  differences  is  either 
party  without  faith  of  being  in  the  right?  If  the  Al- 
mighty Ruler  of  nations,  with  His  eternal  truth  and  jus- 
tice, be  on  your  side  of  the  North,  or  on  yours  of  the 
South,  that  truth  and  that  justice  will  surely  prevail  by  the 
judgment  of  this  great  tribunal,  the  American  people. 
By  the  frame  of  the  government  under  which  we  live, 
this  same  people  have  wisely  given  their  public  servants 


FIRST    INAUGURAL    ADDRESS.  4~4 1 

but  little  power  for  mischief,  and  have  with  equal  wisdom 
provided  for  the  return  of  that  little  to  their  own  hands 
at  very  short  intervals.  While  the  people  retain  their 
virtue  and  vigilance,  no  administration,  by  any  extreme 
wickedness  or  folly,  can  very  seriously  injure  the  govern- 
ment in  the  short  space  of  four  years. 

.       MY    COUNTRYMAN    ONE    AND    ALL. 

My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and  well  up- 
on this  subject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking 
time. 

If  there  be  an  object  to  hurry  any  of  you,  in  hot  haste, 
to  a  step  which  you  would  never  take  deliberately,  that 
object  will  be  frustrated  by  taking  time;  but  no  good 
can  be  frustrated  by  it. 

Such  of  you  as  are  now  dissatisfied  still  have  the  old 
Constitution  unimpaired,  and,  on  the  sensitive  point,  the 
laws  of  your  own  framing  under  it;  while  the  new  admin- 
istration will  have  no  immediate  power,  if  it  would,  to 
change  either. 

If  it  were  admitted  that  you  who  are  dissatisfied  hold 
the  right  side  in  the  dispute,  there  is  still  no  single  rea- 
son for  precipitate  action.  Intelligence,  patriotism, 
Christianity,  and  a  firm  reliance  upon  Him  who  has  nev- 
er yet  forsaken  this  favored  land,  are  still  competent  to 
adjust,  in  the  best  way,  all  our  present  difficulties. 

In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and 
not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The 
government  will  not  assail  you. 

You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the 
aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to 
destroy  the  government;  while  I  shall  have  the  most  sol- 
emn one  to  preserve,  protect  and  defend  it. 


442  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

I  am  loth  to  close .  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends, 
We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have 
strained,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection. 

The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every 
battle-field  and  patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and 
hearthstone  all  over  this  broad  land,,  will  yet  swell  the 
chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as  surely  they 
will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature. 


:o:- 


THE  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION. 


Issued  by  President  Lincoln,  January  i,  1863,  at  Washington. 

Whereas,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-two,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  containing  among  other  things,  the  fol- 
lowing, to- wit  : 

"That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundreed  and  sixty-  three,  all 
persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  state  or  designated  part 
of  a  state,  the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion 
against  the  United  States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward, 
and  forever  free,  and  the  Executive  government  of  the 
United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authority 
thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  such 
persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to  repress  such  per- 
sons, or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for 
their  actual  freedom. 

"That  the  Executive  will  on  the  first  day  of  January 
aforesaid,  by  proclamation,  designate  the  states  and  parts 
of  states,  if  any,  in  which  the  people  thereof  respectively 
shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States;  and 
the  fact  that  any  state  or  the  people  thereof  shall  on  that 
day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  by  members  chosen  thereto  at  elections 
wherein  a    majority  of    the  qualified  voters  of  such  state 

[443] 


444  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong 
countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evidence 
that  such  state,  and  the  people  thereof,  are  not  then  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States. 

"Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of 
the  United  States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as 
Commander-in  Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United 
States  in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion  against  the  au- 
thority and  government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit 
and  necessary  war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion, 
do,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  my  purpose  so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed 
for  the  full  period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the  day  first 
above  mentioned,  order  and  designate,  as  the  states  and 
parts  of  states  wherein  the  people  thereof  respectively 
are  this    day  in    rebellion  against  the  United    States,  the 

following,  to-wit: 

"Arkansas,    Texas,  Louisiana  (except  the    parishes  of 

St.  Bernard,  Plaquemine,  Jefferson,  St.  John, St.  Charles, 
St.  James,  Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre  Bonne,  La- 
fourche, St.  Marie,  St.  Martin  and  Orleans,  including 
the  city  of  New  Orleans),  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida, 
Georgia,  South  Carolina,  North  Carolina  and  Virginia 
(except  the  forty-eight  counties  designated  as  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  also  the  counties  of  Berkely,  Accomac,  North- 
ampton, Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess  Anne,  and  Nor- 
folk, including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth),  and 
which  excepted  parts  are  for  the  present  left  precisely  as 
if  this  proclamation  were  not  issued. 

"And,  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid,  I  do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as 


EMANCIPATION    PROCLAMATION.  445 

slaves  within  said  designated  States  and  parts  of  States, 
are,  and  henceforward  shall  be  free;  and  that  the  Execu- 
tive Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  mil- 
itary and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and 
maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons. 

"And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to 
be  free,  to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary 
self. defense;  and  I  recommend  to  them,  that  in  all  cases, 
when  allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

"And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  per- 
sons of  suitable  condition  will  be  received  into  the  armed 
service  of  the  United  States,  to  garrison  forts,  positions, 
stations  and  other  places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts 
in  said  service. 

"And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of 
justice,  warranted  by  the  Constitution,  upon  military 
necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind, 
and  the  gracious  favor  of  the  Almighty  God. 

"In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  name, 
and  caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 
"Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
[l.  s.]  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  Independ- 
dence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-seventh. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 

"By  the  President: 

"William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State." 


■:o: 


A  FOURTH  OF  JULY  SPEECH. 


Delivered  at  Washington,  July,  1863,  just   after  the  victory  at  Vicksburg, 
Port  Hudson,  and  other  points. 

Fellow-Citizens: — I  am  very  glad  indeed  to  see  you 
to-night,  and  yet  I  will  not  say  I  thank  you  for  this  call; 
but  I  do  most  sincerely  thank  Almighty  God  for  the  oc- 
casion on  which  you  have  called.  How  long  ago'  is  it  ? 
eighty  odd  years  since,  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  for  the 
first  time,  in  the  history  of  the  world,  a  nation,  by  its 
representatives,  assembled  and  declared  as  a  self-evident 
truth,  "that  all  men  are  created  equal."  That  was  the 
birthday  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Since  then 
the  Fourth  of  July  has  had  several  very  popular  recogni- 
tions. 

The  two  men  most  distinguished  in  the  framing  and 
support  of  the  Declaration  were  Thomas  Jefferson  and 
John  Adams— the  one  having  penned  it,  and  the  other 
sustained  it  the  most  forcibly  in  debate — the  only  two  of 
fifty-five  who  signed  it.  and  were  elected  Presidents  of 
the  United  States.  Precisely  fifty  years  after  they  put 
their  hands  to  the  paper,  it  pleased  Almighty  God  to  take 
both  from  this  stage  of  action.  This  was  indeed  an  ex- 
traordinary and  remarkable  event  in  our  history. 

Another  President  five  years  after,  was  called  from 
this  stage  of  existence  on  the  same  day  and  month  of  the 
year,  and  now  on  this  last  Fourth  of  July,  passed,  when 
we  have  a   gigantic  rebellion,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is 

[446] 


FOURTH    OF    JULY    SPEECH.  44/ 

an  effort  to  overthrow  the  principle  that  all  men  w 
created  equal,  we  have  the  surrender  of  a  most  powerful 
position  and  army  on  that  very  day.  And  not  only  so, 
but  in  a  succession  of  battles  in  Pennsylvania,  near  to  us, 
through  three  days  so  rapidly  fought  that  they  might  be 
called  one  great  battle,  on  the  first,  second  and  third  of 
the  month  of  July;  and  on  the  fourth  the  cohorts  of 
those  who  opposed  the  Declaration  that  all  men  are  cre- 
ated equal,  "turned  tail"  and  run.  [Long  continued 
cheers.] 

Gentlemen,  this  is  a  glorious  theme,  and  the  occasion 
for  a  speech,  but  I  am  not  prepared  to  make  one  worthy 
of  the  occasion.  I  would  like  to  speak  in  terms  of  praise 
due  to  the  many  brave  officers  and  soldiers  who  have 
fought  in  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  liberties  of  the 
country  from  the  beginning  of  the  war.  These  <ire  try- 
ing occasions;  not  only  in  success,  but  for  the  want  of 
success.  I  dislike  to  mention  the  name  of  one  single 
officer,  lest  I  might  do  wrong  to  those  I  might  forget. 
Recent  events  brings  up  glorious  names,  and  particularly 
prominent  ones;  but  these  I  will  not  mention.  Having 
said  this  much,  I  will  now  take  the  music. 


LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  AT  GETTYSBURG. 


Delivered  at  the  dedication  of  the  Gettysburg   National  Cemetery  on  the 
Gettysburg  battle  field,  Nov.  19,  1863. 

• 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — Fourscore  and  seven  years 
ago  our  fathers  brought  forth  upon  this  continent  a  new 
nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the  propo- 
sition that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now  we  are  en- 
gaged in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that  nation, 
or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long 
endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  that  war. 
We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field  as  a 
final  resting-place  for  those  who  here  gave  their  lives 
that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and 
proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

But  in  a  larger  sense  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot 
consecrate,  we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave 
men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  conse- 
crated it  far  above  our  power  to  add  or  detract.  The 
world  will  little  note,  nor  long  remember,  what  we  say 
here;  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here. 

It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather  to  be  dedicated  here  to 
the  unfinished  work  which  they  who  fought  here  have 
thus  far  so  nobly  advanced .  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be 
here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us,  that 
from  these  honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to 
that  cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of 
devotion;  that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead 
shall  not  have  died  in  vain;  that  this  nation,  under  God, 
shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that  the  Govern- 
ment of  tlie  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people  shall 
not  perish  from  the  earth." 

[448] 


'GOD   BLESS  THE  WOMEN  OF  AMERICA.' 


On  March  16,  1864,  at  the  close  of  a  fair  in  Washing- 
ton, for  the  benefit  of  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  of 
the  army,  President  Lincoln  was  present,  and  in  re- 
sponse to  loud  calls  spoke  as  follows: 

Ladies  and  Gentleman: — I  appear  to  say  but  a  word. 
This  extraordinary  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  falls 
heavily  upon  all  classes  of  people,  but  the  most  heavily 
upon  the  soldiers.  For  it  has  been  said,  all  that  a  man 
hath  will  be  give  for  his  life;  and  while  all  contribute  of 
their  substance,  the  soldier  puts  his  life  at  stake,  and 
often  yields  it  up  in  his  country's  cause.  The  highest 
merit,  then,  is  due  to  the  soldier. 

In  this  extraordinary  war,  extraordinary  developments 
have  manifested  themselves,  such  as  have  not  been  seen 
in  former  wars;  and  among  these  manifestations  nothing 
has  been  more  remarkable  than  these  fairs  for  the  relief 
of  suffering  soldiers  and  their  families.  And  the  chief 
agents  in  these  fairs  are  the  women  of  America. 

I  am  not  accustomed  to  the  use  of  language  of  eulogy; 
I  have  never  studied  the  art  of  paying  compliments  to 
women;  but  I  must  say,  that  if  all  that  has  been  said  by 
orators  and  poets  since  the  creation  of  the  world  in 
praise  of  women  were  applied  to  the  women  of  America, 
it  would  not  do  them  justice  for  their  conduct  during  this 
war.  I  will  close  saying,  God  bless  the  women  of 
America  ! 

[449] 


SPEECH  AFTER  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE 
WILDERNESS. 

Delivered  in  response  to  a  Serenade  May  9,  1864,  at  the   White   House. 

Fellow-Citizens: — I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you 
for  the  compliment  of  this  call,  though  I  apprehend  it  is 
owing  more  to  the  good  news  received  to-day  from  the 
army  than  to  a  desire  to  see  me.  I  am,  indeed,  very 
grateful  to  the  brave  men  who  have  been  struggling  with 
the  enemy  in  the  field,  to  their  noble  commanders  who 
have  directed  them,  and  especially  to  our  Maker.  Our 
cammanders  are  following  up  their  victories  resolutely 
and  successfully.  I  think  without  knowing  the  particu- 
lars of  the  plans  of  General  Grant,  that  what  has  been  ac- 
complished is  of  more  importance  than  at  first  appears. 
I  believe  I  know  (and  am  especially  grateful  to  know), 
that  General  Grant  has  not  been  jostled  in  his  purpose; 
that  he  has  made  all  his  points;  and  today  he  is  on  his 
line,  as  he  purposed  before  he  moved  his  armies.  I  will 
volunteer  to  say  that  I  am  very  glad  of  what  has  hap- 
pened; but  there  is  a  great  deal  still  to  be  done.  While 
we  are  grateful  to  all  the  brave  men  and  officers  for  the 
events  of  the  past  two  days,  we  should,  above  all,  be 
very  grateful  to  Almighty  God,  who  gives  us  victory. 

There  is  enough  yet  before  us  requiring  all  loyal  men 
and  patriots  to  perform  their  share  of  the  labor  and  fol- 
low the  example  of  the  modest  General  at  the  head  of 
our  armies,  and  sink  all  personal  considerations  for  the 
sake  of  the  country.  I  commend  you  to  keep  yourselves 
in  the  same  tranquil  mood  that  is  characteristic  of  that 
brave  and  loyal  man. 

I  have  said  more  than  I  expected  when  I  came  before 
you.  Repeating  my  thanks  for  this  call,  I  bid  you  good-bye. 

[450] 


SPEECH  ON   THE  WAR. 


In  June,  1864,  the  President  attended  a  fair  at  Phila- 
delphia, one  of  the  largest  that  was  held  in  all  the  coun- 
try. At  a  supper  given  to  him  there,  the  health  of  the 
President  having  been  proposed  as  a  toast,  the  President 
said  in  acknowledgment: 

Ladies  and  Gentleman: — I  suppose  that  this  toast  is 
intended  to  open  the  way  to  me  to  say  something.  War 
at  the  best  is  terrible,  and  this  of  ours  in  its  magnitude 
and  duration  is  one  of  the  most  terrible  the  world  has 
ever  known.  It  has  deranged  business  totally  in  many 
places  and  perhaps  in  all.  It  has  destroyed  property, 
destroyed  life,  and  ruined  homes.  It  has  produced  a  na- 
tional debt  and  a  degree  of  taxation  unprecedent  in  the 
history  of  this  country.  It  has  caused  mourning  among 
us  until  the  heavens  may  almost  be  said  to  be  hung  in 
black.  And  yet  it  continues.  It  has  had  accompani- 
ments never  before  known  in  the  history  of  the  world.  I 
mean  the  Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions,  with 
their  labors  for  the  relief  of  the  soldiers,  and  the  Volun- 
teer Refreshment  Saloons,  understood  better  by  those 
who  hear  me  than  by  myself — (applause) — and  these 
fairs,  first  begun  at  Chicago  and  next  held  in  Boston, 
Cincinnati,  and  other  cities.  The  motive  and  object  that 
lie  at  the  bottom  of  them  is  worthy  of  the  most  that  we 
can  do  for  the  soldier  who  goes  to  fight  the  battles  of  his 

[45i] 


452  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

country.  From  the  fair  and  tender  hand  of  women  is 
much,  very  much  done  for  the  soldier,  continually  re- 
minding him  of  the  care  and  thought  for  him  at  home. 
The  knowledge  that  he  is  not  forgotten  is  grateful  to  his 
heart.  (Applause.)  Another  view  of  these  institutions 
is  worthy  of  thought.  They  are  voluntary  contributions, 
giving  proof  that  the  national  resources  are  not  at  all  ex- 
hausted, and  that  the  national  patriotism  will  sustain  us 
through  all.  It  is  a  pertinent  question.  When  is  the 
war  to  end  ?  I  do  not  wish  to  name  a  day  when  it  will 
end,  lest  the  end  should  not  come  at  the  given  time.  We 
accepted  this  war,  and  did  not  begin  it .  (Deafening  ap- 
plause.) We  accepted  it  for  an  object,  and  when  that 
object  is  accomplished  the  war  will  end,  and  I  hope  to 
God  that  it  will  never  end  until  that  object  is  accom- 
plished. (Great  applause . )  We  are  going  through  with 
our  task,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  if  it  takes  us  three 
years  longer.  I  have  not  been  in  the  habit  of  making 
predictions,  but  I  am  almost  tempted  now  to  hazard  one. 
I  will.  It  is,  that  Grant  is  this  evening  in  a  position,  with 
Mead  and  Hancock,  of  Pennsylvania,  whence  he  can 
never  be  dislodged  by  the  enemy  until  Richmond  is 
taken.  If  I  shall  discover  that  General  Grant  may  be 
greatly  facilitated  in  the  capture  of  Richmond,  by  rapid- 
ly pouring  to  him  a  large  number  of  armed  men  at  the 
briefest  notice;  will  you  go?  (Cries  of  "Yes.")  Will 
you  march  on  with  him  ?  (Cries  of  "Yes,  yes.)  Then  I 
shall  call  upon  you  when  it  is  necessary.  (Laughter  and 
applause.) 


:o: 


LINCOLN'S  SECOND    INAUGURAL. 


Delivered  March  4,  1865,  at  Washington. 
WITH  MALICE  TOWARD  NONE,   WITH  CHARITY  FOR  ALL. 

Fellow-Countrymen: — At  this  second  appearing  to 
take  the  oath  of  the  Presidential  office,  there  is  less  oc- 
casion for  an  extended  address  than  there  was  at  the 
first.  Then  a  statement  somewhat  in  detail  of  a  course 
to  be  pursued  seemed  very  fitting  and  proper.  Now,  at 
the  expiration  of  four  years,  during  which  public  declara- 
tions have  been  constantly  called  forth  on  every  point 
and  phase  of  the  great  contest  which  still  absorbs  the  at- 
tention and  engrosses  the  energies  of  the  nation,  little 
that  is  ne_w  could  be  presented. 

1  'The  progress  of  our  arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly 
depends,  is  as  well  known  to  the  public  as  to  myself;  and 
it  is,  I  trust,  reasonably  satisfactory  and  encouraging  to 
all.  With  high  hope  for  the  future,  no  prediction  in  re- 
gard to  it  is  ventuted. 

'  'On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this  four  years  ago, 
all  thoughts  were  anxiously  directed  to  an  impending 
civil  war.  All  dreaded  it;  all  sought  to  avoid  it.  While 
the  inaugural  address  was  being  delivered  from  this  place, 
devoted  altogether  to  save  the  Union  without  war,  in- 
surgent agents  were  in  the  city  seeking  to  destroy  it  with- 
out war — seeking  to  dissolve  the  Union  and  divide  the 
effects    by  negotiation,      ftoth    parties    deprecated    war; 

[453] 


^ 


454  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

but  one  of  them  would  make  war  rather  than  let  the  na- 
tion survive,  and  the  other  would  accept  war  rather  than 
let  it  perish;  and  the  war  came. 

"One  eighth  of  the  whole  population  were  colored 
slaves,  not  distributed  generally  over  the  Union,  but  lo- 
calized in  the  southern  part  of  it.  These  slaves  consti- 
tuted a  peculiar  and  powerful  interest.  All  knew  that 
this  interest  was  somehow  the  cause  of  the  war.  To 
strengthen,  perpetuate  and  extend  this  interest,  was  the 
object  for  which  the  insurgents  would  rend  the  Union 
even  by  war,  while  the  government  claimed  no  right  to 
do  more  than  to  restrict  the  territorial  enlargement  of  it. 
"Neither  party  expected  for  the  war4he.jpaagpitude  or 
the  duration  which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither  an- 
ticipated that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease  with, 
or  even  before,  the  conflict  itself  should  cease .  Each 
looked  for  an  easier  triumph,  and  a  result  less  funda- 
mental and  astounding. 

"Both  read  the  same  Bible  and  pray  to  the  same  God, 
and  each  invokes  his  aid  against  the  other.  It  may  seem 
strange  that  any  man  should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's  as- 
sistance in  wringing  their  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other 
men's  faces;  but  let  us  judge  not,  that  we  be  not  judged. 
The  prayers  of  both  could  not  be  answered.  That  of 
neither  has  been  answered  fully.  The  Almighty  has  his 
own  purposes.  'Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offense, 
for  it  must  needs  be  that  offenses  come;  but  woe  to  that 
man  by  whom  the  offense  cometh. '  If  we  shall  suppose 
that  American  slavery  is  one  of  these  effenses,  which  in 
the  providence  of  God  must  needs  come,  but  which  hav- 
ing continued  through  his  appointed  time,  He  now  wills 
to    remove,"and  that  He  gives  to  both    North  and  South 


SECOND     INAUGURAL    SPEECH.  455 

this  terriWe3taL^as_the_woe__duc  to  those  by  whom  the 
offensef  came/'shall  we  discern  therein  any  departure 
from  those  divine  attributes  which  the  believers  in  a  liv- 
ing God  always  ascribe  to  Him? 

Eon.dly  do  ws-iiope,  fervently  do  we  pray,  that,  this 
mighty  scourge  of  war  may  sx^T^jajysjay^ix^^  y^? 

wills  that  it  continue  until  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bonds- 
man's two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil  shall 
be  sunk/lmd  until  everv  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the 
lash  shall  be  paid  with  another  drawn  with  the  sword; 
as  was. said  three  thousand  years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be 
said^'The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous 
altogether. ' 

"With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let 
us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the 
nation's  wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  born  the 
battle  and  for  his  widow  and  orphans,  to  do  all  which 
may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  a  lasting  peace  among 
ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 


SPEECH  TO  140th  INDIANA  REGIMENT. 


Delivered  at  Washington,  March  17,  1865. 

Governor  Morton  had  made  a  brief  speech,  in  which 
he  congratulated  his  auditors  on  the  speedy  approaching 
end  of  the  rebellion,  and  concluded  by  introducing  Presi- 
dent Lincoln.  The  President  addressed  the  assembly  as 
follows: 

Fellow-Citizens: — It  will  be  but  a  very  few  words 
that  I' shall  undertake  to  say.      I  was  born  in  Kentucky, 


456  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

raised  in  Indiana,  and  lived  in  Illinois;  and  now  I  am 
here,  where  it  is  my  business  to  care  equally  for  the  good 
people  of  all  the  States.  I  am  glad  to  see  an  Indiana 
regiment  on  this  day  able  to  present  the  captured  flag  to 
the  Governor  of  Indiana.  I  am  not  disposed,  in  saying 
this,  to  make  a  distinction  between  the  States,  for  all 
have  done  equally  well. 

There  are  but  few  views  or  aspects  of  this  great  war 
upon  which  I  have  not  said  or  written  something  where- 
by my  own  opinions  might  be  known.  But  there  is  one 
— the  recent  attempt  of  our  erring  brethren,  as  they  are 
sometimes  called,  to  employ  the  negro  to  fight  for  them. 
I  have  never  written  nor  made  a  speech  on  that  subject, 
because  that  was  their  business,  not  mine,  and  if  I  had 
a  wish  upon  the  subject,  I  had  not  the  power  to  intro- 
duce it,  or  make  it  effective.  The  great  question  with 
them  was  whether  the  negro,  being  put  into  the  army, 
■  will  fight  for  them.  I  do  not  know,  and  therefore  cannot 
decide.     They  ought  to  know  better  than  me. 

I  have  in  my  lifetime  heard  many  arguments  why  the 
negroes  ought  to  be  slaves,  but  if  they  fight  for  those 
who  would  keep  them  in  slavery,  it  will  be  a  better  argu- 
ment than  any  I  have  yet  heard.  He  who  will  fight  for 
that,  ought  to  be  a  slave .  They  have  concluded,  at  last 
to  take  one  out  of  four  of  the  slaves  and  put  them  in  the 
army,  and  that  one  out  of  the  four  who  will  fight  to  keep 
the  others  in  slavery,  ought  to  be  a  slave  himself,  unless 
he  is  killed  in  a  fight .  While  I  have  often  said  that  all 
men  ought  to  be  free,  yet  would  I  allow  those  colored 
persons  to  be  slaves  who  want  to  be,  and  next  to  them 
those  white  people  who  argue  in  favor  of  making  other 
people  slaves.      I  am  in  favor  of  giving  an  appointment 


SPEECH    TO    SOLDIERS.  457 

to  such  white  men  to  try  it  on  for  these  slaves.  I  will 
say  one  thing  in  regard  to  the  negroes  being  employed  to 
fight  for  them.  I  do  know  he  cannot  fight  and  stay  at 
home  and  make  bread,  too.  And  as  one  is  about  as  im- 
portant as  the  other  to  them,  I  don't  care  which  they  do. 
I  am  rather  in  favor  of  having  them  try  them  as  soldiers. 
They  lack  one  vote  of  doing  that,  and  I  wish  I  could 
send  my  vote  over  the  river  so  that  I  might  cast  it  in  favor 
of  allowing  the  negro  to  fight.  But  they  can  not  fight 
and  work  both.  We  must  now  see  the  bottom  of  the 
enemy's  resources .  They  will  stand  out  as  long  as  they 
can,  and  if  the  negro  will  fight  for  them  they  must  allow 
him  to  fight.  They  have  drawn  upon  their  last  branch 
of  resources,  and  we  can  now  see  the  bottom.  I  am 
glad  to  see  the  end  so  near  at  hand.  I  have  said  now 
more  than  I  intended,  and  will  therefore  bid  you  good- 
bye. 


PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  LAST  SPEECH. 


A  Carefully  Worded,  Wise  and  Memorable 

Production. 

Delivered  Tuesday  Evening,  April  u,  1865,  in  response  to  a  serenade 
at  the  White  'House. 

Fellow- Citizens: — We  meet  this  evening  not  in  sor- 
row, but  in  gladness  of  heart.  The  evacuation  of  Peters- 
burg and  Richmond,  and  the  surrender  of  the  principal 
insurgent  army,  give  hope  of  a  righteous  and  speedy  peace 
whose  joyous  expression  cannot  be  restrained.  In  the 
midst  of  this,  however,  He  from  whom  all  blessings  flow 
must  not  be  forgotten .  A  call  for  a  national  thanksgiv- 
ing is  being  prepared,  and  will  be  duly  promulgated. 
Nor  must  those  whose  harder  part  give  us  the  cause  of 
rejoicing  be  overlooked.  Their  honors  must  not  be  par- 
celed out  with  others.  I  myself  was  near  the  front,  and 
had  the  high  pleasure  of  transmitting  much  of  the  good 
news  to  you;  but  no  part  of  the  honor,  for  plan  or  execu- 
tion, is  mine.  To  Gen.  Grant,  his  skillful  officers  and 
brave  men,  all  belongs.  The  gallant  navy  stood  ready, 
but  was  not  in  reach  to  take  active  part. 

By  these  recent  successes,  the  re-inauguration  of  the 
national  authority,  reconstruction,  which  has  had  a  large 
share  of  thought  from  the  first,  is  pressed  much  more 
closely  upon  our  attention.      It  is  fraught  with  great  diffi- 

[458] 


HIS    LAST    SPEECH.  459 

culty.  Unlike  the  case  of  a  war  between  independent 
nations,  there  is  no  authorized  organs  for  us  to  treat  with. 
No  one  man  has  authority  to  give  up  the  rebellion  for  any 
other  man.  We  simply  must  begin  with  and  mould  from 
disorganized  and  discordant  elements.  Nor  is  it  a  small 
additional  embarrassment  that  we,  the  loyal  people,  diff- 
er among  ourselves  as  to  the  mode,  manner  and  means 
of  reconstruction. 

As  a  general  rule,  I  abstain  from  reading  the  reports 
of  attacks  apon  myself,  wishing  not  to  be  provoked  by 
that  to  which  I  cannot  properly  offer  an  answer.  In  spite 
of  this  precaution,  however,  it  comes  to  my  knowledge 
that  I  am  much  censured  from  some  supposed  agency  in 
setting  up  and  seeking  to  sustain  the  new  State  Govern- 
ment of  Louisiana.  In  this  I  have  done  just  so  much  as, 
and  no  more  than,  the  public  knows.  In  the  annual 
message  of  December,  1863,  and  accompanying  procla- 
mation, I  presented  a  plan  of  reconstruction  (as  the  phrase 
goes,)  which  I  promised,  if  adopted  by  any  state,  should 
be  acceptable  to,  and  sustained  by,  the  Executive  Gov- 
ernment of  the  nation .  I  distinctly  stated  that  this  was 
not  the  only  plan  which  might  possibly  be  acceptable; 
and  I  also  distinctly  protested  that  the  Executive  claim- 
ed no  right  to  say  whch  or  whether  members  should  be 
admitted  to  seats  in  Congress  from  such  States.  This 
plan  was,  in  advance,  submitted  to  the  then  Cabinet,  and 
distinctly  approved  by  every  member  of  it.  One  of  them 
suggested  that  I  should  then,  and  in  that  connection,  ap- 
ply the  Emancipation  Proclamation  to  the  heretofore 
excepted  parts  of  Virginia  and  Louisiana:  that  I  should 
drop  the  suggestion  about  apprenticeship   for  freed  peo- 


460  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

pie,  and  that  I  should  omit  the  protest  against  my  own 
power,  in  regard  to  the  admission  of  members  of  Con- 
gress, but  even  he  approved  every  part  and  parcel  of  the 
plan  which  has  since  been  employed  or  touched  by  the 
actions  of  Louisiana. 

The  new  Constitution  of  Louisiana,  declaring  emanci- 
pation for  the  whole  state,  practically  applies  the  procla- 
mation to  the  part  previously  excepted.  It  does  not 
adopt  apprenticeship  to  freed  people,  and  it  is  silent,  as 
it  could  not  well  be  otherwise,  about  the  admission  of 
members  of  Congress.  So  that,  as  it  applies  to  Louisi- 
ana, every  member  of  the  Cabinet  fully  approved  the 
plan.  The  message  went  to  Congress,  and  I  received 
many  commendations  of  the  plan,  written  and  verbal; 
and  not  a  single  objection  to  it,  from  any  professed 
emancipationist,  came  to  my  knowledge,  until  after  the 
news  reached  Washington  that  the  people  of  Louisiana 
had  begun  to  move  in  accordance  with  it.  From  about 
July,  1862,  I  had  corresponded  with  different  persons, 
supposed  to  be  interested  seeking  a  reconstruction  of  a 
State  Government  for  Louisiana.  When  the  message  of 
1863,  with  the  plan  before  mentioned,  reached  New  Or- 
leans, Gen.  Banks  wrote  me  he  was  confident  that  the 
people,  with  his  military  co-operation,  would  reconstruct 
substantially  on  that  plan.  I  wrote  him,  and  some  of 
them,  to  try  it.  They  tried  it,  and  the  result  is  known. 
Such  only  has  been  my  agency  in  getting  up  the  Louis- 
iana government.  As  to  sustaining  it,  my  promise  is  out, 
as  before  stated. 

But,  as  bad  promises  are  better  broken  than  kept,  I 
shall  treat  this  as  a  bad  promise,  and  break  it,  whenever 
I  shall  be  convinced  that  keeping  it  is  adverse  to  the  pub- 


HIS    LAST    SPEECH.  46 1 

lie  interest.      But  I  have  not  yet  been  so  convinced . 

I  have  been  shown  a  letter  on  this,  subject,  supposed 
v  be  an  able  one,  in  which  the  writer  expresses  regret 
that  my  mind  has  not  seemed  to  be  definitely  fixed  on  the 
question  whether  the  seceded  States,  so-called,  are  in 
the  Union  or  out  of  it.  It  would,  perhaps,  add  astonish- 
ment to  his  regret  to  learn  that,  since  I  have  found  pro- 
fessed Union  men  endeavoring  to  make  that  question,  I 
have  purposely  forborne  any  public  expression  upon  it. 
As  appears  to  me,  that  question  has  not  been,  nor  yet  is, 
a  practically  material  one,  and  that  any  discussion  of  it, 
while  it  thus  remains  practically  immaterial,  could  have 
no  effect  other  than  the  mischievous  one  of  dividing  our 
friends. 

As  yet,  whatever  it  may  hereafter  become,  that  ques- 
tion is  bad,  as  the  basis  of  a  controversy,  and  good  for 
nothing  at  all — a  merely  pernicious  abstraction.  We  all 
agree  that  the  seceded  States,  so-called,  are  out  of  their 
proper  relation  to  the  Union,  and  that  the  sole  object  of 
the  Government,  civil  and  military,  in  regard  to  those 
States,  is  to  again  get  them  into  their  proper  practical 
relation.  I  believe  it  is  not  only  possible,  but  in  fact 
easier  to  do  this  without  deciding,  or  even  considering, 
whether  these  States  have  ever  been  out  of  the  Union, 
than  with  it.  Finding  themselves  safely  at  home,  it  would 
be  utterly  immaterial  whether  they  had  ever  been  abroad. 
Let  us  all  join  in  doing  the  acts  necessary  to  restoring 
the  proper  practical  relations  between  these  States  and 
the  Union,  and  each  forever  after  innocently  indulge  his 
own  opinion  whether,  in  doing  the  acts,  he  brought  the 
States  from  without  into  the  Union,  or  only  gave  them 
proper  assistance,  they  never  having  been  out  of  it. 


462  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

The  amount  of  constituency,  so  to  speak,  on  which 
the  new  Louisiana  government  rests,  would  be  more  sat- 
isfactory to  all  if  it  contained  fifty,  thirty,  or  even  twen- 
ty thousand,  instead  of  only  about  twelve  thousand,  as 
it  really  does.  It  is  also  unsatisfactory  to  some  that  the 
election  franchise  is  not  given  to  the  colored  man.  I 
would  myself  prefer  that  it  were  now  conferred  on  the 
very  intelligent  and  those  who  serve  our  cause  as  soldiers. 
Still  the  question  is  not  whether  the  Louisiana  govern- 
ment, as  it  stands,  is  quite  all  that  is  desirable.  The 
question  is,  "Will  it  be  wiser  to  take  it  as  it  is,  and 
help  to  improve  it,  or  to  reject  and  disperse  it." 

Can  Louisiana  be  brought  into  proper  practical  rela- 
tion with  the  Union  sooner  by  sustaining  or  by  discard- 
ing the  new  State  government? 

Some  twelve  thousand  voters  in  the  heretefore  slave 
State  of  Louisiana  have  sworn  allegiance  to  the  Union, 
assumed  to  be  the  rightful  political  power  of  the  State, 
held  elections,  organized  a  State  government,  adopted  a 
free  State  constitution,  giving  the  benefit  of  public  schools 
equally  to  black  and  white,  and  empowering  the  Legis- 
lature to  confer  elective  franchise  upon  the  colored  man. 
The  Legislature  has  already  voted  to  ratify  the  constitu- 
tional amendment  passed  by  Congress,  abolishing  slav- 
ery throughout  the  nation.  These  twelve  thousand  per- 
sons are  thus  fully  committed  to  the  Union  and  to  per- 
petual freedom  in  the  States — committed  to  the  very 
things,  and  nearly  all  the  things  the  nation  wants — and 
they  ask  the  nation's  recognition  and  its  assistance  to 
make  good  that  committal. 

Now,  if  we  reject  and  spurn  them,  we  do  our  utmost 
to  disorganize  and  disperse  them.       We,  in  effect,  say  to 


HIS    LAST    SPEECH.  463 

the  white  men,  "you  are  worthless,  or  worse,  we  will 
neither  help  you,  nor  be  helped  by  you."  To  the  blacks 
we  say,  "This  cup  of  liberty  which  these,  your  old  mas- 
ters, hold  to  your  lips,  we  will  dash  from  you,  and  leave 
you  to  the  chances  of  gatheringthe  spilled  and  scattered 
contents  in  some  vague  and  undefined  when,  where  and 
how."  If  this  course,  discouraging  and  paralyzing  both 
white  and  black,  has  any  tendency  to  bring  Louisiana  in- 
to proper  practical  relations  with  the  Union,  I  have,  so 
far,  been  unable  to  perceive  it.  If  on  the  contrary,  we 
recognize  and  sustain  the  new  government  of  Louisiana, 
the  converse  of  all  this  is  made  true. 

We  encourage  the  hearts  and  nerve  the  arms  of  the 
12,000  to  adhere  to  their  work,  and  argue  for  it,  and  pros- 
elyte for  it,  fight  for  it,  and  feed  it,  and  grow  it,  and  ripen 
it  to  a  complete  success.  The  colored,  man,  too,  seeing 
all  united  for  him,  is  inspired  with  vigilance,  and  energy, 
and  daring  the  same  end.  Grant  that  he  desires  elective 
franchise,  will  he  not  obtain  it  sooner  by  saving  the  al- 
ready advanced  steps  towards  it,  than  by  running  back- 
ward over  them?  Concede  that  the  new  government  of 
Louisiana  is  only  as  what  it  should  be  as  the  egg  is  to  the 
fowl,  we  shall  sooner  have  the  fowl  by  hatching  the  egg 
than  by  smashing  it.      [Laughter.  J 

Again,  if  we  reject  Louisiana,  we  also  reject  one  vote 
in  favor  of  the  proposed  amendment  to  the  National  Con- 
stitution. To  meet  this  proposition,  it  has  been  argued 
that  no  more  than  three-fourths  of  those  States,  which 
have  not  attempted  secession,  are  necessary  to  validly 
ratify  the  amendment.  I  do  not  commit  myself  against 
this,  further  than  to  say  that  such  a  ratification  would  be 
questionable,  and  sure  to  be  persistently  questioned,  while 


464  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches. 

ratification  by  three-fourths  of  all  the  States  would  be  un- 
questioned and  unquestionable. 

I  repeat  the  question:  "Can  Louisiana  be  brought  in- 
to proper  practical  relation  with  the  Union  sooner  by 
sustaining  or  by  discarding  her  new  State  Government?" 
What  has  been  said  of  Louisiana  will  apply  generally  to 
other  States.  And  yet  so  great  peculiarities  pertain  to  each 
State,  and  such  important  and  sudden  changes  occur  in 
the  same  State,  and,  withal,  so  new  and  unprecedented 
is  the  whole  case,  that  no  exclusive  and  inflexible  plan 
can  safely  be  prescribed  as  to  details  and  collaterals. 
Such  exclusive  and  inflexible  plan  would  surely  become 
a  new  entanglement.  Important  principles  may,  and 
must  be  inflexible. 

In  the  present  situation,  as  the  phrase  goes,  it  may  be 
my  duty  to  make  some  new  announcement  to  the  people 
of  the  South.  I  am  considering,  and  shall  not  fail  to  act, 
when  satisfied  that  action  will  be  proper. 


:o: 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  BELIEF. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  says  David  P.  Thompson,  had  the 
good  fortune  to  be  trained  by  a  godly  mother  and  step- 
mother. The  two  books  which  made  the  most  im- 
pression upon  his  character  were  the  Bible  and  Weem's 
"Life  of  Washington."  The  former  he  read  with  such 
diligence  that  he  knew  it  almost  by  heart,  and  the  words 

i 

of  scripture  became  so  much  a  part  of  his  nature  that  he 
rarely  made  a  speech  or  wrote  a  paper  of  any  length 
without  quoting  its  language  or  teachings . 

One  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  notable  religious  utterances  was 
his  reply  to  a  deputation  of  colored  people  at  Baltimore 
who  presented  him  a  Bible.  He  said:  "In  regard  to 
the  great  book  I  have  only  to  say  it  is  the  best  gift  which 
God  has  ever  given  man.  All  the  good  from  the  Savior 
of  the  world  is  communicated  to  us  through  this  book. 
But  for  this  book  we  could  not  know  right  from  wrong. 
All  those  things  desirable  to  man  are  contained  in  it." 

Col.  Rusling  overheard  the  following  conversation  be- 
tween President  Lincoln  and  Gen.  Sickels,  just  after  the 
victory  of  Gettysburg:  The  fact  is,  General,  said  the 
President,  in  the  stress  and  pinch  of  the  campaign  there, 
I  went  to  my  room,  and  got  down  on  my  knees  and 
prayed  Almighty  God  for  victory  at  Gettysburg.  I  told 
Him  that  this  was  His  country,  and  the  war  was  His  war, 
but  that  we  really  couldn't  stand  another  Fredericksburg 
or  Chancellorsville.  And  then  and  there  I  made  a  solemn 
vow  with  my  Maker  that  if  He  would  stand  by  you  boys 
at  Gettysburg,  I  would  stand  by  Him.  And  He  did,  and 
I  will  !  And  after  this  I  felt  that  God  Almighty  had  taken 
the  whole  thing  into  His  own  hands.  Mr.  Lincoln  said 
all  this  with  great  solemnity. 

[465] 


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LINCOLN'S  SAYINGS. 

— All  that  I  am,    all  that  I  hope  to  be,    I   owe  to    my 
angel  mother. 


L 


— God  must  like  common  people  or  He  would  not  have 
made  so  many  of  them. 

— If  all  that  has  been  said  by  orators  and  poets  since 
the  creation  of  the  world  in  praise  of  women  were  ap- 
plied to  the  women  of  America,  it  would  not  do  them  full 
justice  for  their  conduct  during  the  war.  *  *  *  God 
bless  the  women  of  America. 

— That  we  here  highly  resolve  that  *  *  *  this  na- 
tion, under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and 
that  the  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and 
for  the  people  shall  not  perish  from,  the  earth. 

— This  Government  must  be  preserved  in  spite  of  the 
acts  of  any  man  or  set  of  men. 

— For  thirty  years  I  have  been  a  temperance  man, 
and  I  am  too  old  to  change. 

— This  country,  with  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the 
people  who  inhabit  it. 

— Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might;  and  ijjj 
that  faith,  let  us  to  the  end  dare  to  do  our  duty  as  we 
understand  it. 

— Nowhere  in  the  world  is  presented  a  Government  of 
so  much  liberty  and  equality. 

— I  am  indeed  very  grateful  to  the  brave  men  who 
have  been  struggling  with  the  enemy  in  the  field. 

[467] 


4*58  Lincoln's  stories  and  speeches* 

—Gold  is  good  in  its  place;  but  living,  brave  and  pa- 
triotic men  are  better  than  gold. 

— The  people,  when  they  rise  in  mass  in  behalf  of  the 
Union  and  the  liberties  of  their  country,  truly  may  it  be 
said:     The  gates  of  hell  cannot  prevail  against  them. 

— I  have  not  willingly  planted  a  thorn  in  any  man's 
bosom. 

— The  reasonable  man  has  long  since  agreed  that  in- 
temperance is  one  of  the  greater,  if  not  the  greatest,  of 
all  evils  among  mankind. 

— A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.  I  be- 
lieve this  Government  cannot  endure  permanently,  half 
slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dis- 
solved; I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall;  but  I  do  expect 
it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing 
or  all  the  other .  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will 
arrest  the  further  spread  of  it  and  place  it  where  the  pub- 
lic shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ulti- 
mate extinction,  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward  till 
it  shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well 
as  new,  North  as  well  as  South. 

— Unless  the  great  God  *  *  *  shall  be  with  and 
aid  me,  I  must  fail;  but  if  the  same  omniscient  and  al- 
mighty arm  *  *  *  shall  guide  and  support  me,  I 
shall  not  fail;  I  shall  succeed. 

— Come  what  will,  I  will  keep  my  faith  with  friend 
and  foe. 

— The  purposes  of  the  Almighty  are  perfect  and  must 
prevail,  though  we  erring  mortals  may  fail  to  accurately 
perceive  them  in  advance. 


LINCOLN'S    SAVINGS,  469 

— It  is  no  pleasure  to  me  to  triumph  over  anyone. 

— I  do  not  impugn  the  motives  of  anyone  opposed  to 
me. 

— I  shall  do  my  utmost  that  whoever  is  to  hold  the 
helm  for  the  next  voyage  shall  start  with  the  best  possible 
chance  to  save  the  ship. 

— I  appeal  to  you  again  to  constantly  bear  in  mind 
that  with  you  (the  people)  and  not  with  politicians,  not 
with  presidents,  not  with  office-seekers,  but  with  you,  is 
the  question,  shall  the  Union,  and  shall  the  liberties  of 
the  country  be  preserved  to  the  latest  generation. 

— So  far  as  I  have  been  able,  so  far  as  has  came  with- 
in my  sphere,  I  have  always  acted  as  I  believe  was  right 
and  just,  and  have  done  all  I  could  for  the  good  of  man- 
kind. 

— No  men  living  are  more  worthy  to  be  trusted  than 
those  who  toil  up  from  poverty — none  less  inclined  to 
take  or  touch  aught  which  they  have  not  honestly 
earned. 

— With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in;  to  bind  up 
the  nation's  wounds;  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne 
the  battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  orphans;  to  do  all 
which  may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  a  lasting  peace 
among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations . 

— I  have  never  had  a  feeling  politically  that  did  not 
spring  from  the  sentiments  embodied  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

:o: 


Lincoln's  tomb  and  monument,  oak  ridge  cemetery, 
[470]  springfield,    ill. 


Pit  — *;-r 

BRONZE    CORNER    PIECES — SARCOPHAGUS    AND    MEMORIAL 

ROOM.  [47 T] 


LINCOLN  ON  LABOR  AND  CAPITAL. 


In  one  of  his  messages  to  Congress  President  Lincoln 
spoke  of  the  true  relations  of  labor  and  capital.  To  the 
language  then  used  by  him  he  added  a  few  sentences  in 
March,  1864,  when  he  replied  to  a  workingmen's  asso- 
ciation that  had  made  him  an  honorary  member.  The 
following  is  that  part  of  the  message  bearing  almost  di- 
rectly on  the  subject,  with  its  later  addendum: 

"It  is  assumed  that  labor  is  available  only  in  connec- 
tion with  capital;  that  no  one  labors,  unless  somebody 
else,  owning  capital,  somehow  by  the  use  of  it  induces 
him  to  labor.  Now  there  is  no  such  relation  between 
labor  and  capital  as  assumed;  nor  is  there  any  such  thing 
as  a  free  man  being  fixed  for  life  in  the  condition  of  a 
hired  laborer.  Labor  is  prior  to  and  independent  of 
capital.  Capital  is  only  the  fruit  of  labor,  and  could 
never  have  existed  if  labor  had  not  first  existed.  Capi- 
tal has  its  rights,  which  are  as  worthy  of  protection  as 
any  other  rights.  Nor  is  it  denied  that  there  is.  and 
probably  always  will  be,  a  relation  between  labor  and 
capital,  producing  mutual  benefits.  The  error  is  in  as- 
suming that  the  whole  labor  of  the  community  exists 
within  that  relation.  A  large  majority  neither  work  for 
others  nor  have  others  work  for  them.  A  considerable 
number  mingle  their  own  labor  with  capital,'  that  is,  they 

[4/2] 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.  473 

labor  with  their  own  hands,  and  also  buy  or  hire  others 
to  labor  for  them;  but  this  is  only  a  mixed  and  not  a  dis- 
tinct class.  Property  is  the  fruit  of  labor;  property  is 
desirable;  it  is  a  positive  good  in  the  world.  That  some 
should  be  rich  shows  that  others  may  become  rich,  and 
hence  it  is  a  just  encouragement  to  enterprise. 

"Let  not  him  that  is  houseless  pull  down  the  house  of 
another,  but  let  him  work  diligently  and  build  one  for 
himself;  thus  by  example  assuring  that  his  own  shall  be 
safe  from  violence  when  built." 


:o: 


LINCOLN'S  SADNESS. 


"Lincoln  was,  in  his  fixed  quality,"  says  Mr.  Usher, 
■  'a  man  of  sadness.  If  he  were  looking  out  of  a  window 
alone,  and  you  happened  to  be  passing  by  and  caught 
his  eye,  you  would  generally  see  in  it  an  expression  of 
distress. 

"He  was  one  of  the  greatest  men  who  ever  lived.  It 
is  now  many  years  since  I  was  in  his  Cabinet,  and 
some  of  the  things  that  happened  there  have  been  for- 
gotten, and  the  whole  of  it  is  rather  dreamy.  But  Lin- 
coln's extraordinary  personality  is  still  one  of  the  most 
distinct  things  in  my  memory.  He  was  as  wise  as  a  ser- 
pent. He  had  the  skill  of  the  greatest  statesman  in  the 
world.  Everything  he  handled  came  to  success.  No- 
body took  up  his  work  and  brought  it  to  the  same  per- 
fection, 

:  o : 


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